Don't Hold Your Breath
by AngelOfDarkness777
Summary: Eir, an asgardian girl with exceptional magic and healing abilities, falls in love with the god of mischief, Loki. But as Loki chooses to follow a different path, will their relationship last? Or be torn apart at the seams? OCxLoki. Rated T for drama, language and action/violence in later chapters. I've just finished the story with chapter 9.
1. Falling

Chapter 1:

(Before Thor movie)

Eir was the best healer in all of Asgard, knowledge of her skills stretched to every corner of Asgard. Despite this fame, she and her mother weren't rich, but they weren't poor either. Eir and her mother never charged even a single coin in exchange for their healing services. That's just the way they were. Even so, Eir and her mother had close ties to the royal family. They were invited to every feast and celebration in the palace and even just to visit. This had been the way since Eir was little, she had grown up alongside the two princes of Asgard, Thor and Loki. Eir always played with them, explored the castle and practiced sword fighting with them, wherever the princes went she went. Eir got along with Thor decently well, when they weren't arguing over whether or not a girl was a fair match for a boy and vice versa. Loki and Eir got along much better, for he wasn't as proud as Thor as Eir knew. And they spent many of their days playing as children should.

When Eir was older, a beautiful young woman, she spent most of her days helping her mother, as her father had died many years ago while bravely defending Asgard from a Frost Giant attack. Eir now worked with her mother as a healer to the sick and injured of Asgard. One day, news spread of Asgard's bravest warriors; Thor, Sif, Volstagg, Hogun, Fandral, and Loki had returned from a fierce battle. One of them was injured, and brought to Eir and her mother to be healed. Eir's mother had gone to the market earlier so it was just her at the time.

_Convenient , _Eir thought_. _As she walked outside to meet the warriors.

"So who got themselves in at scrape this time?" Eir said sarcastically as she walked up to them.

"Now is not the time Eir. He needs healing." Thor said seriously.

"Alright come inside." Eir replied, biting her lip in regret as she opened the door.

Fandral and Hogan, who were carrying a make-shift gurney pushed past Volstagg, Thor and Sif to reveal the injured person was none other than Loki, who had a bloody gash in his left side. Eir's eyes widened in shock as they carried an unconscious Loki into her house.

_No, it can't be, _she thought.

"Please stay in the waiting room until I'm finished." Eir said as Thor, Sif and Volstagg walked into the house.

As soon as Fandral and Hogun had set Loki down on the operating table Eir shooed them away to rejoin their comrades. Eir then quickly and gently went to work. Surprisingly, the wound Loki had received looked worse than it really was, and Eir was able to heal it swiftly with aid from her supernatural healing powers. About a half an hour later, Loki woke. As he tried to get a feel of his surroundings he sat up with only a slight amount of pain in his side, which was bound with golden gauze. Eir came walking in, and was surprised when she saw Loki awake, causing her to jump a bit. Loki smiled slightly.

"How are you feeling?" Eir asked as she walked over to him.

"Much better now that your healing hands have touched me." Loki replied smugly.

Eir laughed slightly at his remark, "You're welcome Loki."

Loki moved off of the operating table and stood.

"It's adequate if I move around?" he asked.

"Yes, your wound looked worse than it really was. How did you get injured in the first place?" Eir asked.

"It was stupid really. We were all out on one of Thor's little adventures when we-Thor managed to anger a horde of Bilgesnipe, and-well you get the idea. I was in the middle of fighting a particularly nasty one when I saw Thor topple a stone spire which caused it to crush multiple bilgesnipes. I dropped my guard and the bilgesnipe I was fighting cut my side with one of its claws." Loki explained as he sat down on a bench in the room.

"He's always getting you guys into trouble isn't he?" Eir said as she sat down next to Loki.

"Who?" Loki inquired.

"Thor." Eir continued.

"Ah yes. He's been doing it ever since we were children." Loki said.

"Yes he has." Eir said as she brushed away a lock of her long chocolate brown hair out of her face.

"You remember those days when we were children? When we would always spend time with each other?" Loki asked.

"Yes, those were the days." she replied as she fondly remembered her childhood.

"Why don't you visit as much as you did before?" he asked her.

"You know the reason Loki. I have to be here to help my mother now that my father's gone. Also, you're a prince of Asgard and you have more responsibility as one. You can't be wasting your time with me all the time." Eir said.

"To tell you the truth I'm not as busy as you think I am. I actually have a great deal of spare time to waste." Loki said, moving closer to Eir.

"If you have that much spare time, aren't there better things to do with it than waste it by hanging around me?" Eir asked inquisitively.

"I don't think you understand. I'd rather waste it with you." Loki said.

Eir looked away for a moment then back at Loki, when she did her eyes widened with shock as Loki placed his lips upon hers. At first it was a surprise to her, but she soon relaxed as the kiss became more passionate.

(During Thor movie)

Ever since Eir and Loki's kiss she and Loki had been dating or however Asgardians put it. Today however was the day that Thor was to be named king of Asgard. Eir knew that Loki and his brother had always been rivals and that Loki didn't particularly enjoy having his brother ascend to the throne and not him. Eir comforted Loki that it would all be fine and that this was to be a joyous day. As she and Loki were on their way to the great hall Loki pulled Eir aside into an empty hallway.

"What are you doing?" she asked him.

"I need to ask a favor of you." Loki asked her.

"What?" she asked curiously.

"I know that you and I are skilled with magic, and I was wondering if you would be willing to allow me to borrow some." Loki said, his gaze upon Eir's eyes.

"Borrow some of my magic? For what?" Eir asked, eying Loki suspiciously.

"I need it so I can add it to my own and use it to surprise my brother with a gift." Loki said.

"A gift? What kind of gift?" she asked.

"The kind that's a surprise." Loki whispered into her ear.

"This isn't some sort of lark you're going to pull again is it?" Eir inquired.

"Eir, I assure you it is not. I have only the purest of intentions." he said, reassuring her.

Eir sighed. "Very well, but I'm serious. No mischief." she said sternly.

"I can only do my best to please you my flower." he replied with a smirk.

Eir focused her magic and produced a fist-sized ball of glowing light on her palm. She then handed it to Loki who took it gently from her. The ball of light flickered then absorbed into his hand.

"Thank you my flower. Now I must go, I will meet you in the great hall soon." Loki said. He then kissed her cheek and walked off.

In the great hall everyone was present, including all of her friends, Sif, Volstagg, Fandral, and Hogun. Eir briskly made her way over to them in her floor-length gold crown-neck dress that had that draped elegantly down to her heels and had a graceful flow to it. She wanted to greet them before the ceremony began.

"How are you all?" Eir said as she exchanged friendly hugs with each one of them.

"Excellent. But I will be doing much better when the feast begins." Volstagg mused.

"Is food all you ever think about Volstagg?" Fandral complained.

"Is arguing all you two do?" Sif added.

Eir chuckled lightly to herself. "It's good to see you all too." she said.

"We should all be getting into place soon, the ceremony's about to start." Hogun said.

"Thanks Hogun." Eir said, then quickly returned to her previous spot as the Allfather came out.

There was a sudden roar from the crowd as Thor came into the hall. Everyone was clapping and Thor was enjoying himself very much, too much if possible. While she clapped, Eir's eyes searched for Loki as he should be in his designated position by the other warriors. As she searched she finally spotted him, by the others as intended.

_Good_, she thought, continuing to clap for Thor.

Thor made his way to the base of the stairs which lead up to Odin's throne. As the speech and oath-swearing began, Eir and Loki's eyes met briefly and exchanged glances.

_What was Loki's surprise? What was he up to? _She thought.

"…Do you swear to cast aside your selfish ambition and to pledge yourself only to the good of the realms?" Odin asked Thor.

"I swear!" Thor replied with a confident lift of Mjolnir.

"And on this day, I Odin, All-Father, will proclaim you…" Odin started then paused, "Frost giants."

_Frost giants? Odd thing to proclaim someone, _Eir thought.

Then realization struck her as Odin, Thor and Loki quickly made their way out of the great hall. Eir quickly slipped away from the crowd and secretly followed. She found that they had made their way into the vault where all of the most powerful relics were kept. Eir kept a good distance, in fear that the Allfather would spot her. Because of her caution, Eir didn't hear what was said nor did she know what had just occurred. She could only make out a few things such as "Frost giants" and "this was an act of war." After the conversation ended, Odin, Thor and Loki left the vault. Thor stormed off to the dining hall, Odin returned to who knows where, and Loki followed Thor. As they passed where Eir was hiding, she wondered what the full details were and followed them. She found them, along with Volstagg, Sif, Fandral and Hogun in the dining room which was a mess due to the dining table being flipped on its side and food scattered across the floor. Eir saw Thor and Loki talking at the far end of the room.

She got close enough just in time to hear, Loki say "No! No, no, no, no, no! I know that look!"

"It's the only way to ensure the safety of our borders!" Thor replied stoutly.

"Thor, it's madness!" Loki responded.

"Madness? What sort of madness?" Volstagg asked.

"We're going to Jotunheim." Thor declared.

"Wait. Your all not really thinking of going to Jotunheim are you? I'm not certain that's a good idea." Eir inquired.

"I'm certain of one thing, you are not going." Loki told Eir.

"Why not? I've always been able to play with you boys, why is this any different?" Eir asked.

"Could you two please have your little lovers spat at another time please?" Fandral cut in rudely.

"Because it's Jotunheim and it's you. Please promise me you won't go." Loki begged Eir, ignoring Fandral.

Eir sighed. "Fine. But you better not come back wounded again or I'll-"

"I'll be fine, I promise." Loki said reassuringly.

(Skip)

(After Jotunheim and Thor being cast out ordeal and Loki being made king)

Eir had heard the news about Loki not allowing Thor to return from Sif and the others. So she went to talk to him. The guards allowed her to enter the throne room, where Loki sat proudly on what was his father's throne. Eir made no gesture or bow and immediately asked her question.

"Loki, why won't you allow Thor to return to Asgard? He's your brother." she asked.

"Because my father's last command was to have Thor banished and my first command cannot be to undo the Allfather's last." Loki replied.

"Is that what you told Sif and the others?" Eir said in a convicting tone.

"My flower, why does this trouble you? This is for the good of Asgard. You should be here at my side as my queen, not worrying about matters such as this." he said.

"You were always jealous of Thor, I thought it purely sibling rivalry but now I see it's much worse." Eir said, then quickly left the room before Loki could say a word.

Eir walked into the room where her friends were waiting.

"What happened?" Sif asked.

"Same thing that happened when you tried." Eir said with a hint of anger in her voice.

"Rejected?" Volstagg asked.

"I can't believe he'd do such a thing! I'm his girlfriend, and he wouldn't listen to me!" Eir snapped.

"So what now?" Fandral asked.

"We all know what we have to do." Sif said.

"We must go. We must find Thor." Hogun added.

"But what about Loki? He'll certainly notice our absence." Fandral said.

"Don't worry I'll stay here and take care of that." Eir added.

"Shh! Heimdall might be watching." Volstagg said in a hushed tone.

(After their summoning by Heimdall and his decision)

"You'll keep him distracted long enough, correct?" Volstagg asked childishly.

"To the best of my abilities Volstagg." Eir said as the Bifrost opened and began to teleport the others to Midguard.

(Back in Palace)

Eir quickly made her way onto a large balcony that extended from the palace. The view was breath-taking, overlooking the entire kingdom. Eir usually came here to think when she was confused or frustrated, for she felt calmer when she was here. Eir had to swiftly come up with a way to buy her friends enough time to locate and retrieve Thor from Midguard. As searched her thoughts she leaned her stomach on the railing to rest, when she got the feeling she was being watched.

"And what is bothering you Eir?" she heard Loki say.

Eir turned around to see Loki appear from behind a pillar.

"A few things." she replied.

"And what worries my precious flower?" he asked.

Eir sighed, "Why you won't return Thor to Asgard."

"You know why Eir-"

"No I don't Loki. Please just tell me the truth." Eir pleaded.

"Very well. You know how Thor is, he's-"

"Headstrong, rash, arrogant," Eir and Loki said in unison.

"But he's also a wonderful friend and he's very brave." Eir added.

"Perhaps, but aside from that, are those qualities that Asgard needs from its king?" Loki said.

"No. But no king is perfect. The only way kings rule well is if they learn from past kings and their mistakes." Eir said.

Loki sighed. "You were the only one who could ever match me in a debate." he said with his trademark smirk.

"And still can." Eir said with a smile. Eir's eyes then spotted the bifrost as it slowed, and Loki was about to lay his eyes upon it.

"How about we head inside? It's getting cold out." Eir said, pretending to shiver as quickly drew Loki's attention away from the Bifrost.

"Very well." he replied as he followed Eir inside the palace. In a brief moment he looked back and saw the Bifrost just as it slowed to a stop. He knew that something was wrong and had to be dealt with immediately.

"Eir, I will see you later, there is an issue that I must attend to." Loki said, then quickly hurried out of Eir's sight.

(Skip)

(After Thor's battle with the Destroyer and Laufey's murder attempt on Odin)

"Thor!" Frigga shouted as she embraced Thor in a hug.

Thor's eyes remained on Loki.

(Outside Odin's chambers)

"I demand you to allow me to enter this room!" Eir exclaimed at the two guards who stood on either side of the door to Odin's chambers.

"King Loki has ordered us not to allow you or anyone into this room." one of the guards said in a monotone voice.

Suddenly there was a loud sound of a wall being broken. The chamber doors flew open and Loki walked briskly out of them.

"Loki! What happened? I heard an explosion." Eir asked him.

"It was nothing! Now excuse me but I need to exact vengeance on the Jotuns for attempting to murder my father." Loki said sharply as he quickly dashed down the hall.

Eir stood there with a confused countenance, then hurried inside the Allfather's chamber to speak to Frigga.

(Skip)

(After Loki and Thor's battle)

Eir rode her ebony horse down the rainbow bridge as fast as she could. She saw that the Bifrost was destroyed and dismounted when she saw Odin standing at the shattered edge. She ran as fast as she could towards Odin. She gasped when she saw that he was holding onto Thor who was holding the Gungnir spear with Loki holding onto it.

Just as she leaned over she saw Loki let go of the end of the spear and fall into the emptiness of the space in-between worlds.

"Loki!" she cried as he disappeared from sight.

Eir collapsed to the ground and began sobbing intensely.

The only word to escape from her lips was, "no" then continued to weep.

(Skip)

Many months had passed, but the grief over Loki was still fresh and sorrow clung to Asgard like a dense fog. Thor had lost his brother and Eir had lost the person she had held dearest. Eir returned to her home and continued to assist her mother with the hospice and healing shop.

Today, she had been invited to the palace by Thor. Although Eir was depressed, she wasn't going to have her sorrow affect Thor. So Eir traveled to the palace where she was told by the guards to meet Thor on the balcony. Eir made her way there, where she saw Thor waiting for her.

"I'm glad you came Eir." Thor said in a kind tone.

"You're welcome. Now what did you need to talk to me about?" Eir asked.

"My father has informed me that, that my brother, Loki is alive." Thor said, as if he was hearing this for the first time.

Eir was too shocked to speak for a moment.

"What?" she asked in disbelief.

"Loki is alive!" Thor said joyously.

"Truly! Where! Where is he!" she asked excitedly.

"He is on the realm of Midguard, Earth to its people." he replied.

"Then we must find him and return him to Asgard!" Eir said blissfully.

"I will go Eir." Thor said.

"Yes, and I will accompany you." she said.

"No Eir. I shall go by myself." he stated.

"But why?" Eir asked.

"My father has only the strength to absorb enough dark energy to send me to Earth. I am sorry Eir, but you shall have to wait until I return." Thor said bluntly.

Eir's expression was that of disappointment, but she already had a plan in mind.

"Very well Thor. But please hurry back." she said.

"I shall return as quickly as I can." Thor said then walked off to be sent on his way.

Once he was gone, Eir went to a secluded corner of the palace. Eir was talented with magic, not as much as Loki was, but still talented. Her specialty was teleportation, and she was going to Earth. She conjured up her magic and cast her strongest teleportation spell. Within a blink of an eye she vanished from where she stood.

Eir was on her way to Earth.


	2. Changes

Don't Hold Your Breath

Chapter 2:

Eir's mind was spinning as she teleported herself to Midgard. Thoughts of Loki, Thor not allowing her to accompany him, and what Midgard was like twisted in her mind. Then, she was hurled to a stop as she finally reached the ground of her destination. Eir slowly looked around. She was standing on a large area soft green grass, and surrounded by trees that were neatly spaced from one another. Eir looked up and saw odd tall structures lining the sky. She stood up in her dark green and silver Asgardian clothing and realized she was being watched by many Midgardians or humans, as she had been old by Thor. They watched her with a mix of confusion and fear in their eyes.

'_They're not so different from Asgardians_,' she thought as she continued to look at them.

Seconds later a black helicopter with an insignia of an eagle on it, hovered over an open field not far from where she stood. The helicopter landed and multiple humans dressed in what Eir conceived to be black battle suits, exited it and approached her warily while carrying strange weapons. Eir readied herself for a battle, but she soon saw a familiar red and silver form in the sky that was quickly approaching.

'_Thor?' Eir asked herself as the figure got closer._

_The figure landed a few yards from her, dressed in silver armor with a red cape attached from the neck, and a large silver hammer in his hand. He looked up at Eir and his face lit up with a smile and a frown. _

"_Thor? I didn't expect to see you here so soon." Eir said as Thor stood up and walked over to her._

"_It is good to see you Eir, but you should not have come." Thor said._

"_And why not?" Eir replied, as she placed her hands on her hips. _

"_Well, it is a-it is a long-it is complicated." he replied._

"_Well that clears things up now doesn't it?" Eir said sarcastically. _

"_Excuse me, Thor and Eir as I heard, Director Fury wishes to see both of you." a man dressed in a black suit and his light brown hair neatly cut said._

"_Who is this Fury?" Eir asked Thor._

"_He is the leader of a group of humans who protect Earth. He is a bit serious but I think he is a good man." Thor said reassuringly. _

"_Very well then, but you will have to explain more about our situation when we arrive." Eir said as she followed Coulson and Thor back to the helicopter. _

_(At S.H.I.E.L.D. base)_

_Eir walked through the floating fortress's hallways with Thor and the man who had addressed her earlier, whose name she had learned was Phil Coulson. They walked past many rooms, which could be seen into via the glass windows that framed them. As they passed one of the rooms, Eir took a quick glance inside and saw two human men talking to each other. The one with messy dark brown hair and wearing glasses noticed her and his companion wearing a 'black Sabbath' t-shirt, they both watched Eir with interest as she walked past. _

_Eir was eventually lead into a large room with computers and many other electronic devices, with multiple humans running around hastily. She followed Thor and Coulson to a tall dark-skinned man dressed in a black trench coat standing by multiple monitors near the large pane of windows that encircled the room. _

"_I see you brought another one of your friends along Thor." the man said as he slowly turned around to face them._

_As he turned, Eir saw that the man had an eye patch over his left eye. Hiding a scar no doubt. _

"_Why didn't you inform us of this?" the man asked. _

"_I did not know she was coming, as I specifically told her not to." Thor replied his gaze focused on Eir. _

"_Anyway, Eir, as I'm told, why have you decided to visit Earth?" Fury asked. _

"_To see if the rumors about Loki were true." Eir replied._

"_And what rumors of him are there on Asgard?" Fury asked._

"_That he survived the destruction of the bifrost and is here on your planet." she replied._

"_Well, those rumors would be true. He is here on our planet and making a mess of it. Causing mischief as you could ironically say." Fury said in a negative tone._

"_What type of mischief is he up to?" she asked._

"'_Intent on conquering our planet and ruling it as its king' sort of mischief." Fury replied._

"_Surely you are not serious? I know he's mischievous, but not capable of that sort of corruption." Eir said anxiously._

"_Thor, I'll let you handle this." Fury said, then turned back to the monitors. _

_Eir looked at Thor, who seemed apprehensive to 'handle it.' Thor and Eir walked into the cafeteria, which was empty with the lunch break long over. They sat down at a table and Thor sighed deeply before looking at Eir solemnly. _

"_Eir, I dread this much but I must tell you the truth about my brother's actions." Thor said gravely as he looked across the table at her._

"_What has he done? What has happened Thor?" Eir asked nervously. _

"_Loki has allied himself with the Chitauri, an army of creatures from an unknown world, and he has taken the Tesseract to aid in the over-taking of this world. He has killed many innocent humans on this world since his arrival as well. I do not want to give up on him, but this is the truth Eir, and I will bring him to justice." Thor said._

"_This can't be true-it can't be! These accusations must be false! He would never do this, not something like…like this." Eir said in an alarmed tone. _

"_I'm afraid it is, and he has, but together we can stop him and bring him back home." Thor said._

"_What happened the day the bifrost was destroyed?" Eir asked._

"_I told you, Loki was caught in the-" _

"_No! What really happened Thor?" she asked. _

_Thor was quiet for the moment._

"_Tell me!" Eir snapped._

"_Very well. Before the bifrost was destroyed, while I was on Midgard and imprisoned, Loki came to me and told me that my father was dead. He lied to me. Not long after, he sent the Destroyer to kill me and our friends. When my powers returned, I destroyed it and returned to Asgard to confront him. When I returned, I found him in my father's chambers, then he blasted me with the Gungnir spear out of the castle. After that, Heimdall informed me that Loki had allowed the frost giants passage into Asgard the day I was to be made king. And then he had allowed Laufey himself into Asgard to allow him to attempt to murder my father as he slept, only for Loki to kill Laufey and make a hero of himself." Thor explained._

"_That was the explosion I heard when I went to talk to him." Eir said in realization._

"_Yes. Then I found Loki in the Bifrost setting it on Jotenheim and leaving it open so it would be destroyed. I tried to convince him to stop, but instead he attacked me and a fierce battle between us ensued. I subdued him and attempted to stop the Bifrost. I could not, and I knew the only way to stop it was to destroy it. And so, I did, but the force of its destruction threw Loki and I over the edge. I was caught by my father and Loki held onto the spear which I held onto. Then, just as you arrived, Loki let go of the spear and fell into the space between worlds. When I learned that he still lived I was filled with joy and informed you so. After I arrived here I was shown Loki's actions by those you see around you, and here we are now." Thor said, finishing explaining._

"_It is true. I-I can't believe it…" Eir said in disbelief._

"_I know will be hard to deal with, but perhaps it would be best for you to rest, get acquainted with this world and if you feel better, meet our newest allies." Thor said gently. _

_Eir said nothing, instead of speaking she slowly nodded her head. _

_Eir was lead to her room by a woman she learned was known as Maria Hill. Eir noticed that the other humans on the hovercraft seemed to ignore or avoid Maria, probably due to her serious mannerisms. Though all Eir noticed was the kindness she showed her as she lead her to her accommodations. _

"_There's a buzz going around that you're an Asgardian like Thor." Maria Hill said as she and Eir continued to walk._

_Hill looked back to see Eir looking down solemnly as she followed._

"_Are you okay? You look as if you just had a break-" Hill began to ask._

"_I'm fine." Eir stated harshly. _

"_Very well." Hill said as they arrived at the room that was to be Eir's accommodations._

_Hill opened the door and walked inside with Eir. Eir quickly looked around then sat down on the bed in the far corner._

"_If you need anything, just press the blue button on this panel here okay?" Hill asked kindly as she pointed to a panel covered in multi-colored buttons by the door. _

"_Thank you, but I think I'll be just fine." Eir said bluntly._

"_All right then." Hill said before closing the door._

_When the door was closed, Eir began sobbing slightly. She looked at a small lamp that was sitting on a side table across the room. Eir sniffled, then lifted her hands and pointed them at the lamp. Anger surged through her, and was transferred through a bolt of blue lightning which shot out from her fingertips and shattered the lamp. Suddenly the door to her room slid open and agent Hill entered quickly, the door automatically closing itself._

"_What happened!" she asked looking at the broken lamp and Eir._

_Eir's anger turned to sorrow, and she abruptly burst into tears with her hands covering her face. Agent Hill rushed over to Eir and placed a concerned hand on her shoulder._

"_What's wrong?" she asked anxiously._

_Eir managed to end the tears long enough to look up at Maria, Maria knew that look and sat down next to Eir, placing her left arm around her sympathetically. _

"_Shh, shh. It's okay." Maria said kindly, causing Eir to slow her weeping. _

"_How will it be alright? How do you know what this feels like?" Eir said bitterly._

"_Trust me, even on Earth we have relationship problems. If we humans can get through them, so can an Asgardian." Maria said, "You just need some time to think, alone." _

"_You're right," Eir said, wiping the tears from her eyes, "Time to think." _

"_How did you get here so fast anyway?" Eir asked._

"_I was right by your door. After seeing your face I knew something was wrong so I figured I'd wait a little while before actually leaving. Just as I began walking away I heard something break and-here we are." she replied._

"_Thank you for that. Now where might I find a secluded area, a forest preferably." Eir asked._

"_Of course. Well, we're just over Vermont and there's a large forest just a few miles from here." Maria answered._

"_Could you give me the exact location?" Eir asked._

"_Sure, follow me." Maria replied._

_Maria lead Eir into a large room, which had a large circular table in the center with the S.H.I.E.L.D. insignia on it. Behind the table there was a computer for personal use, where agent hill began entering the forest's location. While agent Hill researched the coordinates, Eir decided to sit down at one of the chairs encircling the table. She was surprised when the chair swiveled as she sat down in it. Though she soon got the hang of it and began swiveling for amusement. She was thoroughly enjoying herself when she interrupted by a sarcastically toned voice._

"_Having fun are we?" said the man she had seen before in the room she first passed on her way to Fury. _

"_Well, yes. We don't have these kinds of chairs on Asgard." Eir replied. _

"_I'm sure you don't have a lot of things we do on Asgard." the man said bluntly._

"_Excuse me?" Eir snapped._

"_Just saying that your world lacks the advanced technology and stuff that we humans have on Earth. No offense though, to a mighty Asgardian such as yourself." he replied sardonically. _

_As they spoke, the man who Eir had seen previously with the sarcastic one entered._

_Eir glared at the man. "Who are you exactly and what makes you so great?" she asked._

"_Tony Stark, and I'm a genius, billionaire, playboy, philanthropist. And you are?" Tony said._

"_Eir, and I'm a warrior, sorceress, healer, and a lady." she replied, mimicking Tony's tone._

"_I like her. Looks like Fury's found himself a keeper." Tony said, speaking to his friend before taking out his cell phone to text._

"_I apologize for Tony's-well for Tony. I am Dr. Bruce Banner, pleasure to meet your acquaintance." he said as he extended his hand towards Eir._

_She looked at his hand curiously, then extended hers towards Bruce as well, their arms parallel to each other._

"_Um. I forgot you're new to Earth. We're supposed to shake each other's hands." Bruce said awkwardly._

"_Oh. I apologize for not following your world's customs." Eir said apologetically, then quickly shook Bruce's hand._

"_You'll get the hang of it, don't worry." he said kindly._

"_Here. I have the coordinates for you Eir. And I pulled up an image of the forest as well if you needed it." Agent hill said as she handed Eir a piece of paper with both numbers and images on it._

"_Thank you." Eir said taking the papers from Maria._

"_I will return soon." Eir said._

_Eir breathed in deeply then focused her gaze on the image on the paper in front of her. She muttered a few words under her breath, and in a flash of green light she vanished from where she stood, much to everyone else's surprise. _

_Eir arrived in a clearing in a forest. She looked around to find herself surrounded by tall trees with emerald green leaves adorning their branches. She breathed a sigh of relief, then proceeded to walk through the forest. The walk was calming, with no structures in her way, no sounds other than the peaceful chirping of song birds, and no people to interrupt her stroll. Eir was completely alone with her thoughts. As she walked on, she eyed a rock that was large enough for her to sit on. Eir walked over to it and breathed out calmly as she sat down. Her mind was a sea of thoughts and emotions, her memories and thoughts circling violently like a whirlpool. Thoughts of Loki and the truth she had been told. Why it was kept from her so long she knew very well. She knew Thor didn't want to see her hurt, he was too sweet for that, but what was she to do? She couldn't give up on him, not yet, but how was she supposed to find Loki in this immense new and strange world?_

"_Eir?" said an all too familiar voice._

_Eir turned around quickly to see Loki standing behind her, his eyes wide with shock._

"_Loki." she said taken by surprise, then ran over to him and embraced him in a hug._

"_How is this possible? How are you here? Did Thor bring you with him?" Loki asked as he embraced her tightly._

"_No. I teleported myself here. When I heard that you were alive I-I had to come. I had to see you again." Eir said, tears of joy streaming down her cheeks._

"_It is a joy to see you again." he replied._

"_But-but why are you here? Thor told me that, that you have allied yourself with the Chitauri and that you mean to take control and rule over this world. Is this true?" she asked._

_Loki pulled away from Eir's embrace and turned away from her._

"_Yes, but there is method to my madness. I have come to rule over these mortals, and in doing so I will bring them peace by removing the bane that brings chaos to their lives. Freedom. When they face this truth, they will know peace, and under my rule I will bring this to them." _

"_You don't sound like the Loki I knew." Eir said._

"_What?" Loki asked in confusion._

"_Is this the Loki that let the frost giants into the vault the day of Thor's coronation?" she asked sharply. _

"_You know?" he asked in surprise._

"_Yes I know Loki. Was that the gift you needed my magic to surprise Thor with?" Eir asked._

"_I-" he started._

"_Then after he was banished you sent the destroyer to kill him and our friends!" she continued._

"_Eir-" Loki stammered. _

"_You used me? Abused my trust-my faith in you!" she barked._

"_It wasn't what it seemed Eir. I did it for the good of Asgard, for the good of all, for you." he said. _

"_For the good of Asgard or for you? Why would you do all of this?" Eir asked._

"_Because I was nothing but a shadow in Thor's greatness. He was to be king of Asgard and what was I? The younger brother who served my older brother graciously? Thor's not even my brother!" Loki snapped._

"_What do you mean?" Eir asked, bewildered._

"_Oh of course. Neither Thor nor the All father told you what I really am did they? Of course not. I'm a frost giant. I was taken as an infant from Jotunheim and brought back to Asgard to serve as a median between both worlds. But the All father told me himself that it was a failed attempt and that it no longer mattered-I no longer mattered!" he shouted angrily._

"_Loki…" Eir said gently._

"_Are you afraid of me now? Now that you know what I really am? A monster." Loki asked as he stood there looking at her with his fiery green eyes._

"_No. I am not." Eir said bluntly._

"_What?" Loki asked, confused by her answer._

"_I've known you ever since we were little, you weren't a monster. You were a prince, a future king of Asgard and my friend." she explained._

"_But I had nothing!" Loki snapped. _

"_You had everything!" Eir retorted._

…

"_You had a family that loved you, friends who would have fought by your side until they breathed their last breath, and…you had me." she said sorrowfully. _

"_But-" Loki began to say, but was cut off by Eir. _

"_Then tell me Loki. Tell me what you didn't have?" she asked him._

_Loki looked at her and stood there silent._

"_Exactly, but you couldn't see that could you? You wanted more then you had or needed, and you put that 'want' before your family and before me." Eir said despondently._

…

"_Now end this foolish desire of yours and come home, then maybe you'll finally see what you have." she pleaded. _

"_Eir, I'm sorry. I can't. I need to, I'm going to stay here and finish my task and if you would just see what I'm trying to do and join me-" Loki implored._

"_See what you're trying to do? Do you need to kill innocent people? Do you need to conquer a planet and rule its people as a tyrant?" Eir asked earnestly. _

"_Eir if you'd just listen to me-" Loki pleaded._

"_No. We're done here. It's over Loki. We're over." Eir said frankly, then turned away from Loki._

"_Wait, Eir!" he shouted walking after her._

"_Goodbye Loki." she said coldly. _

_Eir then chanted magic words, and with a flash of green light she disappeared, teleporting herself back to S.H.I.E.L.D. leaving Loki standing alone in the forest._


	3. Girl's Night Out

**Disclaimer: I do not own the lyrics that I use in this chapter! All rights belong to Nicole Scherzinger and her record label. Song lyrics are in bold.**

There were a few people relaxing in the rec room, where Eir had previously teleported from about a half an hour ago. A tall and muscular man with blond hair and wearing a earthy green lumberjack style plaid shirt and blue jeans was sitting down silently at the large table. Tony was discussing quantum physics and theories with Bruce, and a red-haired woman wearing a black jacket over a red tank-top and black jeans leaned against the back wall. A flash of green light appeared near the computer, catching everyone's attention. The red-haired woman placed her hand on a gun she had on her belt, preparing for an attack.

The green light faded to reveal Eir standing there quietly. She looked at everyone in the room, wondering why they were all so entranced by her entrance.

"Is there a problem?" she asked.

Everyone in the room was silent.

"Oh yes, I forgot that you humans are not used to my teleportation abilities. I apologize for surprising you." Eir said apologetically.

"No, it's uh-it's fine. Wait. Who are you?" the blond-haired man asked calmly, who was standing now.

"Eir. I came here with Thor, more or less. And you would be?" she asked politely.

"Steve Rogers. Nice to meet you, Eir." he said stoutly as he walked over to her and extended his hand towards her.

Eir looked at his hand, then quickly shook it.

"Same to you." she said relaxing her grip.

Eir walked over to the red-haired woman.

"And you are?" Eir asked politely.

"Natasha Romanoff." the woman replied coldly, then turned away and walked out of the room.

Eir stood there, surprised by her coldness and sudden departure.

"Yeah, that's Natty for ya' you'll get used to her, but what really interests me is how you do the whole teleporting thing. How does that work exactly?" Tony asked, walking over to her.

"Magic. I just say a few words, then focus on where I wish to go." she replied.

"Interesting, but there's no device you use? No technology?" he asked.

"No, now if you'd excuse me-" Eir began to say, but was interrupted by Tony.

"Another question that's popped into my mind is, where did you teleport yourself to anyway? And why?" Tony inquired smugly.

"I do not believe that is any of your business." Eir retorted defensively.

"Well then, there are some minor trust issues if you won't. Why don't you tell us where you went and what you did? You're an Asgardian like Thor _and_ Loki. How do we know that you're not on the bad guy's side?" he asked accusingly.

"You doubt my allegiance?" Eir asked, offended by his accusations.

"No, I doubt your trustworthiness. Why did you come to Earth anyway? To sightsee?" Tony asked sardonically.

"To find Loki. There, is that what you were seeking for?" she explicated.

"Part of it. But why would you need to find Loki, when Asgard had already sent Thor?" he asked.

"Stark, I don't think this is any of your business." Steve said, defending Eir.

"Why isn't it? If she's going to be hanging around here while Loki is running around trying to take over Earth, why shouldn't we know what she's been up to?" Tony asked imprudently.

"Loki and I are-were together! Are you happy now?" Eir shouted.

Everyone in the room stared at her in silent shock.

"Yes, he and I were 'dating' as you humans call it, and I came here to find him after I was told he was alive and not dead. Earlier this day I was by myself in a forest and he approached me." Eir explained.

Everyone's attention was held firmly on Eir.

"I discovered that he was no longer the man I knew, and I ended our relationship. It's done. Over. Does this satisfy your questions?" Eir asked fiercely.

"Well yes, but I have a new question to ask you." Tony said as he began to move towards Eir.

"Tony. I don't think that's a good idea." Bruce said, as he could recognize the anger building in Eir's amber eyes.

"Sure it is." Tony said, ignoring Bruce's suggestion.

"I've been shown the footage of how Loki uses his spear to control other people's minds. So how do we know that in your little encounter with your-now ex-boyfriend-he didn't use his spear to control your mind? How can you prove that you're not under his control" Tony asked mockingly as he now stood face to face with Eir.

Eir looked balefully at Tony, her eyes filled with anger. She clenched her right fist and with one swift movement, punched Tony in the face. The force of an Asgardian right hook sent him reeling yards back, knocking him down and sprawled at the base of the stairs that separated the main room from the door. Everyone was frozen with shock.

"Well it's about time somebody punched him." Steve said haughtily, with a small smile on his face.

Eir walked passed a dazed Tony and proceeded up the stairs towards the door. She stopped and looked at Tony as he lay on the stairs.

"That's how you thick lout!" Eir spat, then proceeded to walk out the door.

"Yep, she's proved it-" Tony stammered before becoming unconscious.

Eir stormed down the hall to return to her room. As she walked she passed agent Hill, who was talking to another co-worker. Hill noticed Eir and broke off the conversation to follow her.

"Eir!" she shouted, as she ran to catch up with Eir, "So how was it?" she asked when she caught up with Eir.

"Fine. Thank you very much for supplying me with the information I needed." Eir responded.

"Not a problem, you can ask me for a favor anytime." Maria replied sweetly.

"**I would like to request that Eir come see me in the control room immediately. That is all." **Nick Fury's voice said through the PA systems posted in every hall.

"Why would he want from me?" Eir asked innocently.

"I'm not sure, but you shouldn't keep him waiting." Maria replied.

Eir entered the control room to find Nick Fury standing in his usual spot, his back turned away from her. She walked towards him and stopped when she was a couple yards from him.

"So, I heard that you gave Stark a concussion and knocked him unconscious." he said casually.

"I apologize for that and will go and heal him." Eir replied remorsefully.

"There's no need for that miss Eir, our medical staff informed me that he'll be fine. I would like to commend you for your actions." Fury said.

"Excuse me?" Eir asked, confused by his praise.

"Ever since Stark stepped onto this ship, I've wanted to punch him out a window. When I heard that you had knocked him out, It pleased me very much to hear." he said.

"So, you're not disappointed by my actions?" she asked.

"Oh no, you've made my and the whole crew's day. I just looked through the security camera monitoring system and watched the whole thing on film. I'll show you." Fury said as he pressed a button on the control panel behind him.

A large holographic screen appeared and showed the event from the view of a security camera. Eir watched as she punched Tony on the recording. Nick Fury gave a hearty laugh, then pressed the button again to turn off the screen.

Eir smirked a little, both proud and embarrassed at her actions.

"The crew will be watching this for a week, at least!" he snickered, "I also need to inform you of your new identity while you're on Earth, if you find it fitting."

"A new identity? What exactly?" Eir asked.

"Agent Hill will give you all the details when you return to your quarters." Fury said, then turned back to face the monitors.

Eir looked at him baffled, then proceeded to return to her quarters. When she entered her room, she found agent Hill inside setting out clothes on the bed. When Maria noticed Eir's presence, she stopped what she was doing and faced her.

"Do you like them? I picked them out myself. I wasn't sure what you might like to wear so I guessed." Maria said, explaining her motives.

"These clothes are of your culture correct? I will need these to fit in with your people?" Eir asked.

"Yes, exactly." Maria replied.

"Fury also told me that I had a new identity, and told me that you would inform me about it." Eir asked.

"Yes." Maria said, then grabbed a clipboard from off of the bed and handed it to Eir.

"This is your alias while you're on Earth. It will serve as the name and information you'll give when others ask your name or where you're from." she continued.

On the papers on the clipboard was a picture of Eir's face, and below it listed her birth date, eye color, and other biological information. The rest was artificial information about her home address, social security number, etc. Eir read the top of the page which had, "Erika Jocelyn Simmons" written down as her name.

"Erika Jocelyn Simmons. This is my false name?" Eir asked.

"Yes. If you ever decide to go out into a town or city, if you ever meet someone and they ask you your name, this is the name you'll give them. Also you'll have a credit card, if you need to buy anything. It's a small account, so personal use only." Maria explained.

"I think I understand. Why do humans need so much information to change their names?" Eir asked.

"So no one can steal your identity or pretend to be you. It's complicated." Maria replied.

"I'll take your word for it." Eir replied, then walked over to the bed to look at the clothes she would eventually have to wear.

"These clothes are actually rather exceptional, you have excellent taste." she said, admiring the clothing.

"Thank you. Now I'll help you put these away in your closet." Maria said.

After Eir and Maria had put away the clothes, Eir sat down on her bed to relax, with Maria sitting down next to her.

"Would you like some hot chocolate?" Maria asked.

"Hot chocolate? What is that?" Eir asked in confusion.

"It's a type of drink, it's very good." Maria replied.

"Oh, then yes, I will have some. If you don't mind making it for me." Eir asked humbly.

"Not at all. It doesn't take very long and there's an electronic tea pot and hot chocolate mix on the table over there." Maria said, then stood up and walked over to make hot chocolate.

When she was finished, Maria brought two steaming mugs of hot chocolate over to Eir. One for Eir and one for herself. Maria handed one of the mugs to Eir then sat down next to her.

"Here you go. One steaming cup of hot chocolate." she said, then proceeded to blow on her own drink.

Eir observed Maria's motion and mimicked it, blowing on her own hot chocolate as well. After she believed it to be cool enough, Eir took a sip of her drink. The wonderful taste surged through her mouth and tingled her taste buds.

"Mmm. This is delicious!" Eir exclaimed, with a chocolate mustache on her mouth.

Maria looked as if she was expecting Eir to do something. Eir looked at her curiously.

"What is it?" she asked.

"Oh nothing. I was just waiting to see if you were going to smash the mug on the ground." Maria replied.

"What? Why would I do that?" Eir asked in bewilderment.

"Because I was told that Thor smashed a mug after he first tasted coffee." Maria replied.

"Oh yes, he did used to do that on Asgard. But not all of us Asgardians do that." Eir said.

"Sorry. I don't mean to pry, but what were you doing in that forest?" Maria asked.

Eir sighed, "Thinking. At least I _**was **_thinking until Loki came to me."

"You saw him?" Maria asked.

"Yes. He was surprised to see me here on Earth, and I was happy to see him. I asked him why he was causing this crisis, and an argument broke out between us. I had learned that he had abused my magic power before for his own selfish ambitions. He told me it was for the good of our world, but I knew it wasn't. I asked him to stop all of this and return home but he refused. So I ended our relationship. He isn't the Loki I fell in love with anymore. He's changed…" Eir explained glumly.

"I'm sorry Eir, but I think you made the right decision." Maria said comfortingly.

"Did I? I just wish I could get him off of my mind somehow. Is there a trick for this on Earth?" Eir asked.

"Actually, yes. It's called girl's night out." Maria replied.

"Girl's night out? What is that?" Eir asked.

"It's where a pair or group of girls get together for a night and have fun." Maria explained.

"How does this help?" Eir asked inquisitively.

"By having all that fun, you realize that you don't need a guy to make you happy and it helps you get over the break-up faster. What do you say? I'm free from duty at eight." Maria asked, a trustful smile on her face.

"Okay." Eir said, cheering up a little from Maria's smile.

"Excellent. But first you'll have to pick out an outfit, a dress preferably." Maria said.

"Very well. I will see you at eight then." Eir said gladly.

(8:05 PM)

Eir had just finished getting into her dress, when Maria came into the room with a large purse hanging from her shoulder. Maria's face lit up when she saw how Eir looked in her dress. The dress was a strapless dark emerald green cocktail dress with a silver belt around the waist, that stopped just above her knees. Eir looked stunning in the dress, her chocolate brown hair and amber eyes being accentuated beautifully by the dark green color.

"How do I look?" Eir asked.

"You look amazing! Now let's get your hair and make-up done quickly so we can get out of here." Maria said grabbing a hairbrush off of a dresser and pulling hairspray and make-up out from her purse.

After they were done putting their make-up on and doing their hair, Maria quickly changed into her own dress, which was a silver and blue sweetheart neckline cocktail dress.

"You look beautiful." Eir said, complimenting Maria on her dress.

"Thanks. Hey Eir, you can teleport yourself anywhere right? And other people, can you teleport them too?" Maria asked.

"Yes, as long as I know exactly where I'm going. Why?" Eir asked curiously.

"Well you see, I can't be seen at base wearing this." Maria replied.

"Why not?" Eir asked.

"Because I kind of have a reputation as a tough and serious second in command, and if anyone here sees me dressed like this I'll be laughed at, lose respect and-it's complicated. Could you please just teleport us to the club from here?" Maria pleaded.

"Of course, but do you know the exact location of where we're going? Or do you have an image of it with you?" Eir asked.

"No. But I have a memory of it in my mind." Maria replied.

"That will suffice. Be sure to hold my hand or else we could get separated mid-warp." Eir said.

Maria nodded then took Eir's hand in her own and gripped tightly. Eir breathed in deeply.

"Now picture where you want to go and focus on it until I say you can stop okay?" Eir asked.

"Yes." Maria replied than closed her eyes and thought of her destination.

"Here we go." Eir said, while breathing deeply.

Eir chanted a few words than in a flash of green light, she and Maria vanished from the room. They arrived in a park adjacent to the club they were going to.

"Okay we're there, you can open your eyes." Eir instructed.

Maria opened her eyes and looked around, taking in her surroundings. "There it is, over there!" she exclaimed pointing to a decent sized building across from where they were.

Eir and Maria walked over to the club in a couple minutes time. Eir scanned the building top to bottom.

"Hmm, this 'club' is rather nice." she said in a surprised tone.

"What did you think it would be like?"

"Oh, I was under the impression that clubs on Earth were small, crowded and immoral." Eir replied.

"Now where did you get that impression? Wait, never mind I think I know." Maria said, a particular 'playboy' coming into mind.

"Let's head inside." Maria said.

Eir and Maria stood in a short line to get into the club. Eir noticed that the doormen were denying any people who were dressed inappropriately. Lucky for Eir and Maria, they had followed the dress code correctly, and were allowed into the club. Eir looked around to see many people in the club, but it was not crowded and cramped. There was plenty of space for people to walk around, talk, or dance without being too close to one another.

Maria led Eir over to the dance floor, where "Just Dance" by Lady Gaga began to play. Maria began to dance to the song. She looked over at Eir, who was standing watching her with a perplexed look.

"What, do your people not dance?" she asked her.

"Not like that." Eir replied.

"Well, since you're on Earth now, this is how we dance and come on, it's fun. You can do it, just get into the rhythm and move to the beat." Maria said persuasively.

"All right, I'll try." Eir said, then tried to get into the rhythm.

She eventually found the rhythm and began dancing perfectly to the beat. She was graceful yet sharp in her movements, a perfect mix of the two. Soon she found herself enjoying herself as she danced in a way she didn't think she knew how to. Unknown to her, a pair of eyes were watching her every move from a distance.

When the song ended, Eir and Maria searched for a place to get a drink to quench their thirst from dancing. They eventually found a self-serve drink stand behind rows of chairs which were placed in front of a small stage. Maria quickly grabbed a cup of water and sat down in an open chair a few rows down, as the rest were full. Eir picked up a plastic cup and poured water into it out from a glass pitcher laid out on the table.

She turned around to search for Maria, but came face to face with a pair of unnaturally green eyes. She gasped and almost spilled her drink in surprise.

"Hello again, Eir." Loki said complacently.

He was dressed in a custom green tuxedo-suit and had his spear in the form of a staff. Eir was frustrated at Loki showing up on her night to forget about him. She tried to move around him but he grabbed her arm and stopped her.

"What do you want?" she snapped spinning around to face him.

"I wanted to tell you how lovely you look in that dress." he said smugly.

"Now's not the time Loki. I thought I made it clear to you that our relationship is over." Eir retorted.

"A relationship is between two people, and both make decisions in the relationship. So if only one person in the relation decides that it is over, the relationship is in fact still legitimate until the other decides the same thing. So to be exact, it isn't over until I say it is." Loki said haughtily.

Eir looked at Loki with resentment.

"Well, things are different on Earth, or are you still learning about the planet you are intent on ruling?" Eir retorted.

"Then I guess I'll just stay here a while longer and learn more." he replied mischievously.

Eir glared at him, then quickly pulled out of his grip and ran towards Maria.

When she found Maria, she was sitting down and watching a person on stage who was singing, dreadfully in Eir's opinion.

"There you are Eir, where were you?" Maria asked.

"I was just-getting a drink at the drink stand. I got lost in the crowd briefly on my way over to you. Why is that person singing terribly on stage?" Eir asked, as she looked back at the drink stand to see Loki staring at her.

"Oh, that's just karaoke. It's when people who think they can sing get up on stage and try to sing a song. Usually they're pretty bad at it." Maria explained.

"I can tell. But these kinds of songs you have on Earth, can they be sung to describe how you feel at the moment or about someone who really irritates you? Specifically in lyrics perhaps?" Eir asked.

"Yeah, there are lots of songs like that-wait, why? What are you up to?" Maria asked skeptically.

"Let's say it's apart of this night to forget about boyfriends." Eir said.

"I think I understand." Maria said with a mischievous smile creeping across her face, "Wait. Have you ever sang before?"

"It was a small pastime of mine back on Asgard. I've been told I'm somewhat good." Eir replied humbly.

"Well then, if you're up for it let's head over to the DJ and get you up on stage." Maria said optimistically.

Maria took Eir's hand and pulled her over to the DJ station.

"My friend here would like to sing a song. Oh, and is there any way she could listen to it before she goes on stage?" Maria asked.

"Um, which song would she like to sing? And I guess." the DJ replied as he handed Eir a sheet of paper with a list of songs on it.

"Which one should I pick?" Eir asked Maria, as they looked through the list.

"I think…this one! This one should be what you're looking for." Maria exclaimed, pointing to a song on the list.

"Can she listen to this through your headphones before she sings it? Please?" Maria said, batting her eyes.

"Sure…" the DJ said.

He then handed his headphones to Eir and started the song as Maria placed them on Eir's head. Eir listened to the song keenly, and paid close attention to every note and lyric. When she was finished listening to the song, she took the headphones off and handed them back to the DJ.

"Are you ready now?" the DJ asked impatiently, handing a microphone to her.

"Yes." she replied as she took the microphone from him and walked onto the stage.

As she looked out through the crowd, she saw Loki sitting in one of the chairs, his eyes locked on hers. She returned a menacing glare and waited for the song to start.

The song started and Eir began to sing:

**(Don't hold your bre-eath eth eth eth eth eth eth eth...)You can't touch me nowThere's no feeling leftIf you think I'm coming backDon't hold your breathWhat you did to me boy I can't forgetIf you think I'm coming backDon't hold your breath**

Eir briefly pointed a finger and other gestures at Loki as she sang, then continued to sing. She was going to make sure he got the message.

**I was under your spell for such a long time couldn't break the chains  
You played with my heart tore me apart with all your lies and games  
It took all the strength I had but I crawled up on my feet again  
Now you're trying to lure me back but no those days are gone my friend  
I loved you so much then I thought someday that you could change  
But all you brought me was a heart full of pain **

**You can't touch me now There's no feeling left  
If you think I'm coming back  
Don't hold your breath  
What you did to me boy I can't forget  
If you think I'm coming back  
Don't hold your breath  
Don't hold your breath**

**I was worried about you but you never cared about me none  
You took my money and I knew that you, you could kill someone  
I gave you everything but nothing was ever enough  
You were always jealous over such crazy stuff **

**You can't touch me now There's no feeling left  
If you think I'm coming back  
Don't hold your breath  
What you did to me boy I can't forget  
If you think I'm coming back  
Don't hold your breath  
Don't hold your breath **

**Move on don't look back  
I jumped off a train running off the tracks  
Love is gone, face the facts  
A bad movie ends and the screen fades to black **

**What you did to me boy I can't forget  
If you think I'm coming back **

**You can't touch me now There's no feeling left  
If you think I'm coming back  
Don't hold your breath  
What you did to me boy I can't forget  
If you think I'm coming back  
Don't hold your breath **

**You can't touch me now There's no feeling left  
If you think I'm coming back  
Don't hold your breath  
What you did to me boy I can't forget  
If you think I'm coming back  
Don't hold your breath.**

The moment the song ended, everyone in the room stood up applauding and a few whistles were heard from the back. Eir's breathing was quick, as she tried to catch her breath. Eir looked at Loki, who was still sitting down. Their eyes met, Loki's eyes filled with surprise and a flicker of rage. A person walked passed him, obscuring Eir's view, then when the person moved out of the way, he was gone.

Eir smiled briefly then exited the stage to rejoin Maria.

**I'm ending this chapter here. Hope you enjoyed it and I will have the next chapter posted as soon as I can write it!**


	4. Trepidation

**Disclaimer: I will tweak the storyline of the movie Avengers just a little to make this story work. It's just a small tweak, nothing huge, I'm sure many people on do the same. This chapter is rated T for action/violence and some language.**

"You were amazing!" Maria said in astonishment..

"You really think so?" Eir asked humbly.

"I know so, now lets get back to having a good time!" Maria replied energetically.

"Yeah, having fun." Eir replied half-heartedly, her gaze returning to the seat Loki had previously occupied.

What had she set in motion?

After a few more hours of enjoying themselves, Eir took Maria to her house, then teleported herself back to her room at S.H.I.E.L.D. Eir walked over to her bed and collapsed on it, "Who knew Midgardian parties were so tiring." she said aloud. After a few minutes of laying on her bed, Eir stood up and changed out of her dress into her nightgown, and proceeded to maintain her personal hygiene. Eir then hopped into her bed, slid her body under the cool sheets and nestled her head on her pillow. Within a few minutes, she fell asleep.

The following morning, Eir awoke to the sound of people running about quickly. She flipped the covers off of herself and rolled out of bed. Eir got dressed quickly, putting on black skinny jeans and a white, sleeveless surplice wrap shell shirt. Eir walked out of her room and found the rec room, where Steve, Tony, who was holding a bag of ice to his head, Bruce and Natasha were present. Eir walked down the stairs and looked at everyone in the room.

"Could someone please tell me what is going on?" Eir asked.

"The resident geniuses over there just figured out how to scan for the Tesseract's radiation, so S.H.I.E.L.D. can pinpoint it and Loki's location." Natasha answered.

"Oh, well that's useful. How long will it be until their whereabouts are located?" Eir asked.

"It'll be a while, a couple days maybe." Bruce replied calmly.

"Could be shorter if the face trace finds Loki out and about." Tony said.

Eir walked over to the table and sat down in one of the swiveling chairs surrounding it. She gave a brief discontented sigh as she sat. Steve, who was sitting a couple chairs away from her, noticed her behavior.

"Hey Eir, you alright?" he asked kindly.

"Hmm? Oh yes, I'm fine thank you." she replied.

"You sure don't look it to me. Seriously, what's wrong?" Steve asked.

"Fine. I'm just not too keen on encountering Loki again." Eir said.

"I'm a little nervous myself, from what I hear he's capable of." Steve said.

"Are you frightened of him?" Eir asked.

"Maybe a little, but I'm still going to help stop him." he replied.

"Would you kill him if you could? After all he's done?" she asked.

"I don't want to kill anyone. I don't like bullies. I don't care where they're from." Steve replied.

( A few hours later…)

"**Attention Avengers. The face trace has identified a match on Loki in Stuttgart, Germany. Prepare for arrival in five hours." **Nick fury's voice said through the PA system in the room.

"Well I guess I have five hours until I go toe to toe with Loki." Steve said optimistically.

Eir smiled a little at his optimism.

"Hey, how do you know it won't be me going toe to toe with Loki?" Tony said gallingly.

"It depends on who Fury thinks is the best man for the job." Steve retorted.

"Oh, so we're gonna go into that now, are we spangles?"

"If Fury thinks the best man for the job is one who uses a metal suit to fight and not his own abilities, then yes." Steve replied.

Eir stood up and left the table as Steve and Tony began to argue. She walked over to Bruce, who was sitting down on a bench on the other side of the room, and sat down next to him.

"How long will they be like this?" she asked.

"Knowing those two, a while." Bruce replied.

"So, I hear that Steve fought in a war, that Tony fights in a suit of metal, and that Natasha is a black widow?" Eir asked.

"You're partly right. Black Widow is her code name. Many of us here have code names that are used to describe our abilities, like Steve's is Captain America, Tony's is Iron Man, you get the picture. Natasha is a skilled assassin, similar to a species of spider we have on Earth, called a Black Widow. Which is also famous for being female, so you understand. She's trained in multiple martial arts -fighting styles- and has excellent stealth and weapons skills." Bruce explained.

"Oh. Well I was told that my false name while I'm on Earth, is Erika Jocelyn Simmons. It doesn't sound as appealing or interesting as everyone else's though." Eir said.

"You don't need a code name since you're from Asgard." Bruce said.

"And why is that?" she asked.

"Well Thor's apart of the Avengers and we just call him Thor, since he's from Asgard and doesn't need a code name to keep his identity a secret on missions like us. On missions and around here, you can just go by your actual name, Eir." he replied kindly.

"Well that's easy. What is your code name? What are your abilities?" Eir asked.

"Um, well… I kind of - well I kind of turn into a -" Bruce stammered.

"He loses control and turns into a giant green rage monster." Tony said, cutting in.

"Really? This is true? Is it safe to demonstrate?" Eir asked, as she began to fill up with curiosity.

"No, definitely not. If I did, I'd probably destroy this whole airship and kill everyone." he said sardonically.

"Oh, well then. Do you have any other abilities that don't involve that?" she asked.

"Yeah, he's like a Stephen Hawking, only smarter." Tony cut in snidely, "But you wouldn't understand that reference, would you Cap?"

The argument between Steve and Tony was ignited once again, luckily for everyone else, Steve and Tony left the room to go argue somewhere else. With peace and quiet now restored, Eir breathed in deeply then exhaled.

"What is a Stephen Hawking?" she asked Bruce curiously.

"In simple terms, he's a really smart guy. I don't think you'd understand me if I explained any further." he replied.

"Probably not." Eir replied.

"Well I might as well head back to my lab. I have to finish the calibrations on the gamma radiation detector." Bruce said as he stood up then left the room, leaving Eir alone with Natasha.

There was an awkward silence in the room for about ten minutes. Eir was sitting on the bench and Natasha was leaning against the opposite wall. Both were silent. Natasha began to move toward the door. Her hand was on the door handle until she stopped by a voice.

"Natasha, wait." Eir said.

"What do you want?" Natasha replied.

"I'd like to talk to you. Perhaps without you being so cold to me?" Eir asked politely.

Natasha sighed, then walked over to Eir and sat down next to her on the bench awkwardly.

"Hear me out please." Eir begged.

"Very well." Natasha nagged.

"Ever since I've been here you've seemed depressed and cold. I'm told that you're usually like this, but I feel that you seem to resent me for some reason. I would like to know if this is true?" Eir asked.

Natasha was caught off guard a little.

"Well… no… and yes. It's hard to explain." Natasha said.

Eir looked at her with inquisitive eyes.

Natasha sighed, "I'm just a little upset what Loki did to Clint. He put him under his mind-control spell, and now he has Clint working for him. It makes me despise Loki and the fact that you were his girlfriend kind of infuriated me." Natasha said.

"I understand how you would direct that anger at me for my involvement with Loki, but I'm not the same. He's not the same. I am sorry he has caused you and so many others pain, and I will do my best to make things right." Eir replied.

"Yeah, you're right. I guess I'm sorry for directing my anger at you." Natasha said.

"All is forgiven. Once we arrive at our destination, you'll have the opportunity to direct your anger at Loki." Eir said evenly.

"Do you really despise him as much as I do?" Natasha asked.

"Yes and no. Yes I hate what he's done, to me and the innocent people of this world and no, I don't completely despise him. I don't know why exactly, but perhaps it's my foolish hope that he can be changed back to the man I once knew. But that is a childish dream and I must face reality." Eir replied.

Natasha and Eir sat there in silence.

**(About five hours later…)**

Eir, Steve, Tony, Natasha and Bruce stood in the command room, with Fury standing in his usual spot. Eir had changed into her warrior clothing, which was a dark green dress that ended a few inches above her ankles, with a slit up one leg for better maneuvering. It had a metallic silver neckline, a silver waist belt, long robe sleeves, and silver swirl patterns starting from the waist.

Fury turned around to address them.

"We are almost at our destination. Agent Romanoff and Captain Rogers will be sent in. The rest of you will be on standby until or if you are needed. Does everyone understand?" Nick Fury said.

Everyone nodded, except for Tony, who mockingly raised his hand.

"Quick question. Why does he get to go in first and not me?" Tony asked childishly, as he referred to Steve.

"We don't have time for this Stark. Now, agent Romanoff, Captain. Suit up." Fury said composedly, then turned back to the endless amount of monitors placed throughout the room.

Natasha and Steve were the quickest to leave the command room, ready to get off the floating fortress and ready to take on Loki. About fifteen minutes later, Steve and Natasha left the base on a hovercraft to the building where Loki was located at. Eir sat at the table in the rec room along with Tony and Bruce. She thought about what events were occurring in her absence. Questions flew through her mind.

"_Could they handle Loki? What is Loki doing at a gala in Germany? Would they need her help?" _these and many other thoughts swirled in her mind.

"Well, I'm off to talk with fury." Tony said confidently as he stood up from his chair, then proceeded to walk out the door.

"What do you think he's up to?" Eir asked Bruce, who was sitting across from her.

"He's probably going to convince Fury to let him join Natasha and Steve on their mission." Bruce said pragmatically.

"You do not want to join them on their mission?" Eir asked inquisitively.

"I'm really not one for fighting and smashing stuff up, but you could probably join in too if you wanted. You know, with your teleporting abilities. You could just teleport yourself there." he added.

"But Fury said-" Eir began to say, but was interrupted by Bruce.

"Fury said be on standby until they need help, and by what I've heard Loki is capable of they'll probably welcome the assist." Bruce said.

"Very well, you make a convincing argument. Could you please use the, the, the slim box with the glass screen that pulls up images and videos to produce an image of the location they went to?" Eir asked.

Bruce nodded and quickly pulled up an image of the building the gala was being held at. Eir took a good look at the image, held it in her mind, then focused her energy on transporting herself to its location. Eir quickly disappeared from the room in a flash of green light.

Eir found herself behind a tall white pillar that, along with many other pillars, was supporting the roof of a huge white alabaster building. Eir quickly composed herself and began her search for her teammates _and_ Loki. As she walked around the side of the enormous building, she saw a flash a blue light and a car flip in the distance, and quickly ran towards it. She raced over to the overturned car and saw that there were two humans, (police officers as she had been told by Bruce) in the car. Eir saw that they were injured and quickly used her magic to free them from the vehicle.

Once she had freed them from the car, she used her healing skills to mend their wounds. They were dazed, but restored to health. Eir stood up and saw a large group of people on their knees. As she wondered why she saw Loki slowly making his way through the crowd, dressed in his Asgardian garb. Eir was surprised at the sight that lay before her, but determined to end this madness.

"Is not this simpler? Is this not your natural state? It's the unspoken truth of humanity that you crave subjugation. The bright lure of freedom diminishes your life's joy in a mad scramble for power. For identity. You were made to be ruled. In the end, you will always kneel." Loki said as he stopped in the middle of the crowd.

An old man stood up from the crowd and looked at Loki fearlessly.

"Not to men like you." he said.

"There are no men like me." Loki responded smugly.

"There are always men like you." the man replied.

Eir had to admit this human was brave, but she feared what action Loki would take next, and she watched helplessly as he pointed his scepter at the elderly human and shot a bolt of blue energy towards him. Eir shouted in distress as she was about to unwillingly witness an innocent person's death. Suddenly the blast of energy was deflected by a familiar red, white, and blue shield and directed back at Loki, knocking him down. Eir was relieved to see Steve, or Captain America as she was supposed to call him when out on missions, stand up and place himself defensively between Loki and the crowd of innocents.

"You know, the last time I was in Germany and saw a man standing above everybody else, we ended up disagreeing." Steve said.

"The soldier. A man out of time." Loki replied.

"I'm not the one who's out of time." Steve replied smugly.

Suddenly a S.H.I.E.L.D. aircraft appeared, and aimed a gun at Loki.

"Loki, drop the weapon and stand down." Natasha said through the PA system.

Suddenly, Loki attacked Steve with his scepter and a fight ensued. Steve threw a few good punches but Loki managed to knock him to the ground. He then placed the end of his scepter forcefully on Steve's head, holding him down.

"Loki stop!" Eir shouted, as she ran hurriedly towards them.

"Eir?" Loki said in bewilderment, taking his eyes off of Steve.

The brief distraction was all Steve needed to knock Loki away from him. He moved to punch Loki again but was tossed to the side by Loki. Loki then proceeded to shoot blasts of tesseract energy from his scepter at the S.H.I.E.L.D. aircraft. Natasha barely managed to steer the ship clear of the dangerous blasts. As she tried to steer the airship clear of the blasts, "Shoot to Thrill" by AC/DC, began playing over the PA system. Eir spotted Tony fly in wearing his red and gold suit of metal armor, and blast Loki with his flight stabilizers, knocking Loki to the ground.

Tony landed on the ground and aimed his arsenal of weapons at Loki.

"Make your move, reindeer games." Tony said tauntingly.

Loki slowly raised his hands into the surrender position and powered down his armor.

"Good move." Tony said, then put away his arsenal of weapons.

Eir made her way over to Steve and Tony, walking past Loki in the process, trying to avoid eye contact with him.

"What are we going to do with him?" Eir asked.

"Take him back to base for interrogation." Tony said bluntly, as he and Steve led Loki towards the S.H.I.E.L.D. aircraft Natasha was piloting.

Eir entered the aircraft last, trailing behind Tony, Steve and Loki. When they were aboard, Natasha started up the aircraft and raised it into the air. Tony had Loki sit in the back of the aircraft in one of the seats near the access door. While Eir listened to Steve and Tony's discussion, she couldn't help her eyes drift towards then lock onto Loki, as he sat still and silent with his hands in his lap casually. She knew he had to be up to something, but why would he allow himself to be captured? As she watched Loki intently bolts of lightning flashed around the aircraft. Eir and Steve noticed the look of alarm on Loki's face.

"What's the matter? Scared of a little lightning?" Steve asked jokingly.

"I'm not overly fond of what follows." Loki replied, his gaze shifting around the ship.

Suddenly a loud thud was heard on the top of the aircraft. Eir realized what Loki had meant. Thor. Tony put his metal mask on and opened the access door to see what had occurred. He was taken back when Thor burst into the aircraft, grabbed Loki and flew back out.

"Damn." Eir muttered aloud.

Tony walked over to the edge of the open access hatch.

"Stark! We need a plan of attack!" Steve shouted.

"I have a plan: attack!" Tony replied, then flew after Thor and Loki.

"This is just great! I don't see how this could possibly get any worse." Eir said aloud to herself.

Just then Steve grabbed a parachute an jumped out of the aircraft.

"I was not expecting that." she said, "how does one work a parachute?"

"Just strap it on you, jump, and pull the tab on the right." Natasha said, "Why?"

"I'm going after them." Eir replied as she strapped on the parachute.

"So it's just jump and pull?" she asked.

"Yes." Natasha said frankly.

"Okay." Eir said as she ran out the aircraft.

"Damn, that girl's got guts." Natasha said to herself.


	5. Dissension

**Disclaimer: This chapter is rated T for action/violence and mild language**

Eir felt that she was being swallowed up by the black night, as she fell through the sky. She could barely make out anything using her eyesight alone, and she had no idea how long she had until she hit the ground. Eir had to think fast. Her only source of light were the brief flashes of lightning that danced around her. She managed to catch a glimpse of Thor's red cape flying in the distance. Now having the knowledge of which direction she had to go in, she positioned her body aerodynamically, so she would be propelled towards her destination.

After what seemed like an eternity of falling through the darkness, she caught the outline of trees and a large rock formation that she was coming up on fast. Eir's hands scrambled to find the tab on her harness before it would be too late. She managed to find it, then pulled it with all of her strength. Seconds after she pulled the tab, a red parachute flew out from a pack on the back of her harness and unfolded. Eir was jerked back from the force of the wind filling the parachute, then began the slow descent to the ground. Throughout the darkness of the night she saw flashes of light and the forms of trees falling below her.

"What in helheim is going on down there?" she said to herself.

Eir eventually landed at the base of a large rock formation. It took her a while to untangle herself from the cords of the parachute. After freeing herself from the cords, Eir turned to the thunderous booms and crashing sounds in the distance. She was making her way towards the sounds until she caught a glimpse of a figure on the rock above her. Ignoring the echoing sounds, Eir quickly teleported herself up onto the ledge where she had seen the figure. She looked around, seeing nothing but dark barren rock all around her. Suddenly she sensed a presence behind her, and whirled around to face it. There was nothing there. Eir relaxed a little then turned around, to come face to face with Loki. She gasped, and stumbled back a little.

"Did I frighten you?" he asked snidely.

"Damn it Loki, you've got to cut that out!" Eir replied crossly, her hand clutching her chest.

"I'll take that as a yes." Loki replied smugly.

"Loki, I'm going to have to take you back to base." Eir said seriously.

"Are you now? All by yourself?" he replied haughtily.

"I'm not by myself, I brought my teammates and where is Thor?" Eir asked.

"He's busy fighting your 'teammates' as we speak." Loki replied.

"What?" Eir asked, confused by his reply.

"Look for yourself, we have a wonderful view from here." he said, referring to the chaos below.

Eir looked down to see Thor and Tony fighting each other fiercely.

"Why would you join that pathetic group? Why waste your talents on an assemblage of lost beings? Is this some act of spite against me for my actions?" Loki asked.

"An act of spite? No. This is my decision. My decision to stop your plans for this world. That act at the gala was just a preview of your full plan?" she said.

"And what if it is? Neither you nor your new friends have the power to stop me or my army." he replied complacently.

"So I'm one of them now? An enemy." Eir asked, a somber look on her face.

"… no." Loki said, slightly surprised at her retort.

"Then what am I? At times you act as if we're still together and now you talk to me as if I'm your enemy. So which is it?" she asked.

"What am I to you?" he asked.

"Excuse me, I believe I asked you firs-" Eir started.

"What am I to you?" Loki asked, repeating his question.

"… I'm not sure anymore." she replied solemnly.

"…" he looked at her with silent shock.

"You were a man I fell in love with whom I lost. Then when I found you again you were not the same. Now I find you bent on enslaving a world, witnessing you trying to kill innocent people and acting like a revenge-driven mad man, blind to all reason. Now answer my question." Eir said.

**…**

"Eir!" she heard a strong voice say.

Eir looked to see Thor standing a distance away from her, waving his hammer as if it were his hand, to get her attention.

"Are you alright? Where is Loki?" Steve said, standing next to Thor and Tony.

"I'm fine, and he's here!" she shouted back.

_Though I have no idea why… _she thought, as she turned back to face Loki.

"So, are you going to try to escape now?" Eir asked, prepared to stop him if she had to.

"No. I believe I am outmatched, and I do not have my scepter." Loki replied calmly.

"Then I guess you'll be coming with us." Eir said as she waited for Tony, Steve and Thor to arrive.

"I will tell you something, before they come." Loki said.

"What?" she asked curiously.

"Now, Thor and your friends might seem to have the upper hand in this, but I will not be your team's downfall." he said bluntly.

"And who will?" Eir asked.

"Themselves. They will destroy themselves all on their own. That is my truth for you." Loki said, finishing just in time before Thor flew up onto the cliff.

Eir stood silently as she tried to understand the full meaning of what Loki said. Thor grabbed Loki by his shoulder and held him in place.

"Are you okay?"

Eir was surprised to hear another voice behind her. She turned around to see Steve standing there.

"Oh, Steve. Yes I'm fine. I - wait did you climb up here?" she asked.

"Oh yeah. Well it wasn't that hard really. Just wanted to make sure you were - Loki was restrained properly." Steve said uneasily.

"Thank you Steve for your concern, but I'm fine." Eir replied kindly.

"Nice job keeping him under control." Steve added.

"Yeah, it wasn't that hard really." she replied uneasily.

On that note, Natasha flew the S.H.I.E.L.D. hovercraft and placed it at the edge of a rock ledge. The hatch door was lowered and Thor led Loki onto the hovercraft. Steve, Eir and Tony followed after then closed the hatch door and began the trip back to S.H.I.E.L.D. base.

When they arrived at S.H.I.E.L.D. base, the moment the door was opened there was a group of armed S.H.I.E.L.D. personnel waiting. Agent Coulson was standing to the side of them and gave Thor an encouraging "we've got this" nod, and with that, Thor handed off Loki to them. Eir watched briefly as Loki was led away in restraints through the hallways of the hellicarrier, she then decided to retire to her room. She was stopped by a hand grabbed her arm.

"We could use you in the rec room. I'm sure a few of us would like to know how you kept Loki under control back there." Tony said with an obnoxious smirk on his face.

Bugged by Tony, Eir was now sitting in a chair around the S.H.I.E.L.D. table in the rec room. Thor was pacing around, deep in thought, Steve was sitting down, Natasha was sitting next to her, Bruce was standing by one of the chairs and Tony was standing across from Bruce. Everyone was now watching live footage of Nick Fury interrogate Loki through a monitor.

"Ant." Fury said, then pointed at a red button which releases the cage_, _"Boot." he said, pointing back to Loki.

Loki let out an amused laugh.

"It's an impressive cage. Not built, I think, for me." Loki said.

"Built for something a lot stronger than you." Fury replied.

"Oh, I've heard." Loki said, looking into the camera which everyone was watching.

"The mindless beast, makes play to be the man." he continued smugly.

Eir looked at Bruce consolingly, then her gaze dropped to the floor. She did not want to look anymore. After a few more minutes of interrogation, Fury left the room and the monitor shut itself off.

"He really grows on you, doesn't he?" Bruce said sarcastically.

"Loki's gonna drag this out. So what's his play Thor?" Steve asked.

"He has an army." Eir said.

Everyone looked at her with intrigue.

"Yes, called the Chitauri, that none of Asgard know nor any other world know. He means to lead them against your people. They will win him the earth. Return, I suspect, for the Tesseract." Thor said.

"I wanna know why Loki let us take him. He's not leading an army from here." Steve asked, the question jarring Eir's memory.

"I don't think we should be focusing on Loki. That guy's brain is a bag full of cats, you could smell crazy on him." Bruce said.

_Should she tell them what Loki had said to her? Or would that knowledge begin the process, if what Loki said was true? _She thought.

"I don't care how you speak. Loki is beyond reason, but he is of Asgard, and he's my brother." Thor said defensively.

"He killed eighty people in two days." Natasha said frankly.

_That many? _she thought.

"He's adopted." Thor replied.

"Considering what the Captain said, Eir, how did you manage to keep Loki from escaping? Or did he even try to escape? What exactly went on while Point Break, the Captain and I settled our differences?" Tony asked.

Eir took a deep breath.

"No, Loki did not try to escape." Eir said.

"What? Did he try to romance you then?" Tony asked obnoxiously.

"Shut up Stark." Steve barked.

"No. I tried to find out more about his plans, to no avail I'm afraid. You could say it was a standoff, I didn't get anything from him." Eir lied.

"You know what I think? I think you're lying." Tony said complacently.

"What? You doubt me again?" she snapped.

"Just saying I'm sure he told you at least something. Something, that you're holding back from us." Tony said snidely.

All eyes in the room were on her now.

"He told me - he told me that the avengers, myself not included, would be its own undoing. That you all will destroy yourselves." Eir said solemnly.

Everyone was silent with shock.

"He means to bring us down from within then?" Steve asked.

"I assume." Eir replied.

"You assume? Hey you know when you assume, you make an A.S.S. out of _**you**_ and _**me.**_" Tony replied nauseatingly.

"Shut up!" everyone shouted in unison.

"Just saying." Tony replied quietly.

After the meeting was over, Eir left the room to gather her thoughts. She wandered the hallways for a while, eventually passing by Bruce's laboratory. She saw Tony, Bruce, and Nick Fury in there all at once discussing something. Feeling that something was wrong, she went inside, coming in on Fury and Tony's argument. They seemed to be discussing something about Phase 2. What that was she had no idea.

She stood closer to the back of the room, not wanting to become involved in this argument. She saw Steve come into the room and place a bulky metal weapon on a laboratory table.

"Phase 2 is SHIELD used the cube to make weapons." he said to Tony.

"Rogers, we gathered everything related to the Tesseract. This does not mean that we're…" Nick Fury started to say.

"I'm sorry, Nick. What were you lying?" Tony interrupted, turning a monitor towards Fury showing weapon designs on it.

"I was wrong, Director. The world hasn't changed a bit." Steve said.

Thor and Natasha walked into the room.

"Did you know about this?" Bruce asked, pointing towards Natasha.

"You wanna think about removing yourself from this environment, doctor?" she replied.

"I was in Calcutta, I was pretty well removed." he responded.

"Loki's manipulating you." Natasha said.

"And you've been doing what exactly?" Bruce replied uneasily.

"You didn't come here because I bat my eyelashes at you." she continued.

"Yes, and I'm not leaving because suddenly you get a little twitchy." Bruce replied.

_It's starting_. Eir thought.

"Why shouldn't they guy let off a little steam?" Tony asked, placing a hand on Steve's shoulder.

"You know damn well why! Back off!" Steve shouted, jerking his arm away from Tony.

"Oh, I'm starting to want you to make me." Tony said, getting closer to Steve.

"Yeah, big man in a suit of armor. Take that off, what are you?" Steve said looking down at Tony sternly.

"Genius, billionaire, playboy, philanthropist." Tony replied smugly.

"I know guys with none of that worth ten of you. I've seen the footage. The only thing you really fight for is yourself. You're not the guy to make the sacrifice play, to lay down on a wire and let the other guy crawl over you." Steve said, becoming seriously angry now.

"I think I would just cut the wire." Tony retorted.

"Put on the suite, let's go a few rounds." Steve said threateningly.

"Everyone we all need to…" Eir tried to say but was cut off.

**…**

"Agent Romanoff, would you escort Dr. Banner back to his…"Fury began to say.

"Where? You're renting my room." Bruce asked sarcastically.

"The cell was just.." Nick Fury started.

"In case you needed to kill me, but you can't! I know, I tried. I got low, I didn't see an end, so I put a bullet in my mouth and the other guy spit it out. So I moved on, I focused on helping other people. I was good until you dragged me back into this freak show and put everyone here at risk. You wanna know my secret, Agent Romanoff? You wanna know how I stay calm?" Bruce said.

Eir froze along with everyone else as Bruce picked up the scepter.

"Dr. Banner, put down the scepter." Steve said.

**…**

The Tesseract locator began sounding off, defusing the tension in the room.

"Sorry kids, you don't get to see my party trick after all." Bruce said, placing down the scepter and hurrying over to the locator.

"The Tesseract belongs on Asgard, no human is a match for it." Thor said.

Tony began to make his way out of the room but was stopped by Steve."You're not going alone!" Steve shouted.

"You gonna stop me?" Tony asked fearlessly.

"Put on the suit, let's find out." Steve said, stepping closer to Tony.

"I'm not afraid to hit an old man." Tony retorted.

"Put on the suit." Steve replied.

Eir looked over at Bruce, who seemed to notice something about the Tesseract.

"Um, everyone?" she said, hoping to get their attention.

"Oh, my God!" Bruce said aloud, removing his glasses.

Suddenly a large explosion occurred in the room, spreading everyone, including Eir, apart in different directions. Eir was thrown against the back wall along with Steve and Tony. Steve was the first up and quickly rushed over to help Eir onto her feet. She was stunned, but okay.

"You alright?" Steve asked.

"Yes, I'm fine. Now go!" Eir said, shooing him away with her hands.

"Put on the suit!" Steve said to Tony as he helped him to his feet, then both ran out the door with Eir.

"What is all this?" she said to herself as she ran through the hallways.

It then donned on her what was happening. Loki was causing a distraction! She immediately started to run to where Loki was being held prisoner. This was his plan all along, she had to stop him from escaping. All she could do for the others was hope they could handle things.

She hoped.


	6. No Way Out

**Disclaimer: This chapter is rated T for action/violence and mild language.**

Eir ran through the doors to the room where Loki was being held. She looked around cautiously, checking around for any sign of movement. She walked up to the glass cage, which was completely empty and quickly peered inside. Loki had escaped.

_Or is this one of his tricks? _she thought, as she continued to peer through the glass, thinking if he used a simple invisibility spell to conceal himself.

As Eir peered through the glass a hand was placed on the glass, just inches away from her. She whirled around to come face to face with Loki. However this time she was less surprised to see him.

"So, you escaped. I guess the explosion was also your doing?" she asked him.

"Always so clever. But no, the explosion was the handwork of agent Barton and his cohorts." Loki said complacently.

"So why not run now? You have your scepter." she asked skeptically.

"Ah yes, but I still need to take one more thing of mine." he replied smugly.

"And that would be?" Eir asked.

"Take a guess." Loki replied, a devious smirk creeping across his face.

"What? No. No, I am not going to be dragged into this Loki. I thought I made it clear to you." she said, backing away quickly from him.

"So did I. Now, if I were you I'd come quietly. You know there's no point in running from me." he said devilishly, stepping closer to her.

"Don't make me hurt you Loki." she said, the wall behind her getting closer and closer.

"Oh, I know you won't." Loki hissed, closing in on Eir.

_Eir wasn't sure what to do. She should blast Loki away with her magic, but would it be enough? What if she wasn't strong enough? Could she really hurt Loki? _she thought.

Eir tried to take another step back, but she bumped into a wall. Her hands nervously searched the wall, unsuccessfully attempting to find a way out. Loki closed in on her and gently, but firmly grabbed her neck. Eir tried to free herself but to no avail. She felt like a bird who stares into a snake's eyes and becomes paralyzed. Loki leaned in closer to her and placed his other hand inches from her face.

"What are you -"

"You'll be much more cooperative if you're drained of some of your magic. I usually would prefer to ask, but I wouldn't want you teleporting off somewhere." Loki said evilly, as his hand began to glow blue.

Eir's eyes filled with horror and disbelief as she felt her energy being drained. Her body becoming weaker and weaker. Her strength fading every second.

"Loki…" she said weakly, before she lost the strength to speak and blacked out.

…

"Loki!" Thor shouted as he stormed into the detention lab.

He strode through the entrance and towards Loki's cell.

Eir awoke to find her hands bound by handcuffs and a piece of cloth tied around her mouth, muffling her. She was in the corner of the detention lab, being restrained by one of S.H.I.E.L.D.'s enemies that agent Barton had brought. She struggled against her bonds but she was too weak. She saw one of Loki's body double illusions in the glass cell, pretending to escape. Thor charged Loki's double, thinking it was the real thing, and tried to tackle it. Eir tried to warn Thor, but could not because of the gag in her mouth. Instead of tackling Loki, the double dissipated and Thor fell into the glass cage, becoming entrapped in it as the door shut itself. The real Loki appeared from behind some equipment, then stood in front of the cage with his hands behind his back.

"Are you ever not going to fall for that?" he said smugly.

Eir watched as Thor tried to break the glass cell, but caused the machine on the side of it to activate.

"The humans think us immortal. Should we test that?" Loki said, then moved to flip the switch on the control panel that would drop the cage.

"Move away please." a voice said.

Eir looked, and saw agent Coulson holding a large weapon threateningly at Loki. Loki slowly moved away from the switch and put his hands up.

"You like this? We started working on the prototype after you sent The Destroyer. Even I don't know what it does. Do you wanna find out?" Coulson said confidently.

Eir knew what Loki was doing, and her muffled warnings were unheard. Every attempt to scream out a warning was a failed attempt against the damned cloth that gagged her.

As Coulson was about to fire the weapon at Loki, Loki's scepter was thrust through his back. The Loki that had stepped away from the control panel was just one of his doubles, and the real Loki had just stabbed Coulson.

"Nooo!" Thor shouted through the glass cell, his fist slamming against its walls.

Eir screamed out in anguish through her gag, as she watched Coulson's dying body fall to the floor against the wall.

Loki stepped away from Coulson and walked back over to the switch on the control panel. Thor and his eyes' met briefly. Thor's in disbelief and horror, and Loki's in an impassive and cold glance. Loki carelessly flipped the switch, sending the glass cell and Thor down on a descent of thirty-thousand feet.

Eir's eyes filled up with tears at the horrific scene that lay before her. Coulson dying in the corner and Thor falling to his demise. Loki was a monster.

Loki turned away from the control panel to walk back over to Eir, but was stopped by a weak voice.

"You're gonna lose." Coulson said weakly.

"Am I?" Loki replied conceitedly.

"It's in your nature." Coulson retorted.

"You're heroes are scattered, your floating fortress falls from the sky. Where is my disadvantage?" Loki asked smugly.

"You lack conviction." Coulson replied weakly.

Coulson's words stung Loki, and he stepped forward aggressively.

"I don't think I…" Loki began, but was suddenly shot through the wall behind him by Coulson's weapon, who had used the last of his strength to do so.

"So that's what it does." Coulson said faintly.

Loki recomposed himself and hastily walked over to Eir and lifted her up by grabbing her arm. He and his minion quickly walked through the halls, making their way to the rendezvous point with the jet that awaited them. Eir tried to fight against Loki, but she did not have the strength. She instead focused on trying to remove the gag from her mouth. She contorted and moved her mouth as much as she could, striving to detach it from her mouth.

She managed to loosen it and remove it from her mouth. The second it was off, she began to shout for help.

"Help! Help! Anyone help! I'm being taken by Loki!" she shouted, her piercing pleas echoing throughout the halls.

Surprised, Loki's eyes darted to Eir. He tried to make her shut her mouth, she had to be quiet!

Eir would not comply with Loki, she used all the strength she had to struggle against Loki and continue to shout for help. Someone had to hear her.

"Would you shut your mouth! We must leave before this fortress falls from the sky!" Loki hissed at Eir.

"Loki, you killed Thor and stabbed Coulson, and now you're kidnapping me! Do you think I'd want to go anywhere with you? I will continue to fight against you until my last breath!" Eir shouted, her eyes glaring balefully at Loki.

Realizing he couldn't shut her up, Loki continued to hurry down the halls, forcing Eir along with him. Just as they neared the exit, and the hovercraft that awaited outside as their getaway vehicle, the man who had restrained Eir in the detention lab was knocked onto the ground by a red, white and blue shield. Eir looked to see Steve, in full Captain America uniform, running down the hall towards her and Loki.

Loki tossed Eir to the side and aimed his scepter at Steve, sending a bolt of tesseract energy at him. Steve quickly held his shield up and deflected the bolt, continuing to run at Loki. Loki made the first move at Steve, thrusting his scepter at him. Steve dodged it, grabbed the scepter and kicked Loki away. Loki stood up quickly. Realizing he could not afford a fight with Captain America, the fortress losing power at the very moment, he looked at Eir briefly then ran out the exit door.

Steve immediately rushed over to Eir and removed the handcuffs that restrained her. He helped her onto her feet gently and looked her over for any other injuries.

"Hey cap, I'm gonna need your help fixing the engine." Tony, in his full Iron Man suit, said through Steve's earpiece.

"I - I'm fine Steve. Hurry, the hellicarrier.. It's going to fall. You need to worry about the lives of everyone on this ship, not me." Eir said solemnly.

"You're right. But Eir, be careful." he said with concern.

Eir nodded in understanding. Steve then rushed down the halls to find the damaged engine.

Eir tried to walk through the halls, to get to the detention lab, to heal Coulson, but her strength failed her. There was chaos all over the ship. Constant booming sounds were heard, followed by tremors that shook the ship. Eir struggled to stay on her feet, her energy almost gone. She could hear people shouting and the sound of gunshots. She was close to the command room. As she walked past, she tripped over a piece of fallen debris. Eir was about to hit the floor, when a hand grabbed her arm and stopped her.

She looked up to see Maria holding her arm, with a small bloody gash on her forehead. Eir smiled weakly, happy to see her face again.

"Come on Eir, I'm not letting you down. Now let's hurry and get you to cover." Maria said.

Eir saw one of Loki's henchman appear and aim a gun at Maria. Eir quickly raised her hand and shot a bolt of green energy at him, blasting him back. Maria turned to look, then quickly looked back at Eir.

"Thanks." she said.

"Don't mention it." Eir replied, a small smile on her face.

Suddenly, everything around them began sliding to one side. Eir and Maria were thrown and pinned against the side of the wall, the force of gravity sticking them to the wall.

"What the hell is happening?" Eir shouted.

"The hellicarrier is falling, agent Barton took out another engine!" Maria replied.

_Steve, Tony, you better hurry. _Eir thought.

…

"Cap, need a lever." Tony said through the com-link as he spun the engine rotors faster and faster in his metal suit.

Steve was holding onto a cable, barely managing to keep himself from falling off the hellicarrier.

"I need a minute here!" Steve shouted.

"Lever! Now!" Tony shouted over the com-link, then stopped pushing the rotors.

The momentum and strength of the rotors pulled Tony underneath, pounding him around. Steve finally managed to drag himself back onto the ship and pull the red lever. The red lever reversing the rotors just enough to free Tony from engine. One of Loki's soldiers began shooting at Steve, who was cornered between debris. Tony flew in and tackled the soldier, knocking the wind out of him.

…

Loki ran onto his getaway jet and looked back at the hellicarrier pensively, as the jet carried him away. He was pleased that most of his plan had succeeded, but a very important part of it had failed…

With the hellicarrier leveled out, Eir and Maria stood up.

"Maria, I need to get to the detention lab. Coulson's seriously injured. I need to heal him, quickly." Eir said gravely.

Maria nodded in compliance, then put her hand up to her ear and spoke into her earpiece.

"I need a medical team down in the detention lab. We have an agent seriously injured. I repeat. We have an agent seriously injured." Maria said seriously, as she helped Eir stand.

"Maria. I can make it there myself. I can take care of it, you need to stay here and help the others." Eir said, pushing herself away from Maria and standing on her own.

"But you're injured." Maria asked with concern.

"Asgardians heal quickly, now please let me go." Eir replied.

Maria nodded. Eir then hurried down the halls as fast as she could. Yes, Asgardians healed fast, but not in the course of fifteen minutes. Eir strained to keep up a fast pace as she ran down the halls. She had to help Coulson. When she arrived, she found Coulson in the same spot as before. Eir rushed over to him. She bent over to him and began to attempt to heal him.

"It's too late for me Eir." he said weakly.

Eir could tell that his strength was leaving him.

"Come on, you can make it. Be strong." Eir said as she frantically tried to heal his wounds.

"Not even Asgardian magic can save me now. I know it, I've accepted it." he replied.

"No! You can't die on me!" Eir exclaimed.

"Keep the fight going, and don't let him win." Coulson said.

Nick fury rushed in with his gun drawn. He quickly scouted the area for enemy activity then rushed over to Eir and Coulson, placing his weapon back in its holster.

"I'm sorry, boss. They got rabbited." Coulson said dimly.

"Just stay awake. Eyes on me." Fury replied, trying to will him to live.

"How is he?" Fury asked, turning to Eir.

"Not good…" Eir replied, anxiety and sorrow in her voice and filling her eyes.

"No, I'm clockin' out here." Coulson said.

"Not an option." Fury said with authority.

"It's okay, boss. This was never gonna work if they didn't have something to…" Coulson's sentence trailed off as he froze still, his eyes still and lifeless.

"Is he?" Fury asked Eir solemnly.

"… yes." Eir sobbed, tears spilling from her eyes, as she looked at the lifeless body of Coulson.

The medical team arrived and began to tend to Coulson's already dead body. Nick Fury sorrowfully placed his hand to his earpiece and turned on the com-link.

"**Agent Coulson is down." **Fury said through the com-link on everyone's channel.

"Sir, the medical team -" Maria said, but was cut off by Fury.

"**I know. They called it." **Fury replied solemnly.

All of the Avengers were silent with shock. No one more than Eir, as she stood behind the medical staff, who were now taking Coulson's body away. She stood there, her eyes locked onto his dead body. The memory of Loki stabbing Coulson replaying in her mind over and over. She had never lost anybody before. A patient that is. In her entire occupation as a healer, she had never lost someone. No one had ever died on her. But this time, she had failed.

She had failed Thor. She had failed Coulson. She was a failure…


	7. Wide Awake

**Disclaimer: This chapter is rated T for I don't know, it just is. This chapter's title, "Wide Awake" is off of Katy Perry's new song. I felt that it describes Eir's emotions pretty well for this chapter.**

Everyone in the hellicarrier was in a state of despair. Tony, Steve and Eir were sitting at the table in the rec room. Expressions of despair were written all over their faces. Loki's plan had been a success. He had torn the Avengers apart, crushed their spirits. None of them were more miserable than Eir, who sat away from both Tony and Steve. She was despondent, a blank expression on her face, her normally bright amber eyes seemed a duller shade then usual. Nick Fury slowly walked over to the table, holding a bunch of Captain America trading cards in his hands.

"These were in Phil Coulson's jacket. Guess he never did get you to sign them." he said, tossing the blood smeared cards onto the table.

The sight of the blood smeared cards only depressed Eir further. Yet another reminder of her failure.

"We're dead in the air up here. Our communications, location of the cube, Banner, Thor. I got nothing for you. Lost my one good eye. Maybe I had that coming." Fury said, then paused for a moment before speaking again.

"Yes, we were going to build an arsenal with the Tesseract. I never put all my chips on that number though, because I was playing something even riskier. There was an idea, Stark knows this, called The Avengers Initiative. The idea was to bring together a group of remarkable people, see if they could become something more. See if they could work together when we needed them to, to fight the battles that we never could. Phil Coulson died still believing in that idea, in heroes." Fury said, his words echoing throughout her mind.

Suddenly, Tony stood up out of his chair and walked out of the room as if spurred into action. Everyone looked at him in surprise as he left the room.

"Well, it's an old fashioned notion." Fury said glumly.

Fury left the room a few minutes after, leaving Eir and Steve alone. Eir sat in her chair silently, sorrow still fresh in her heart. Steve's eyes glanced over to Eir. She was a pitiful sight to behold, her blatant grief painful to the eye. Steve, being the kind person he was, couldn't stand seeing her in this state. But what could he do? He knew her pain. Being unable to save someone. He had lost his best friend, he couldn't save him. But he had never comforted a woman before. This would take all of his inner strength to accomplish. Steve slowly stood up from his chair and walked over to Eir, who barely noticed. He awkwardly sat in the seat next to her and tried to find the words to speak to her.

"Uh, um. Eir, are you okay?" he said, stammering his words.

"Hmm? What?" she asked, being shaken out of her daze.

"I, I wanted to ask you how you're coping with, with Coulson's death."

"Oh. That. Well Steve, I'm -" Eir began.

She couldn't hold in her emotions anymore. It was too much. Eir snapped. She began sobbing and fell into Steve, pressing her face against his chest. Steve was shocked at her action, but he slowly began to understand. He comfortingly wrapped his arms around her, trying to be as gentle as possible as Eir continued to sob.

"Whoa. Take it easy, it's uh, it's okay." he said, cradling her in his arms.

"How?" she sniveled, looking up at him, "I failed Coulson. I couldn't save him. I couldn't save Thor."

"Well, if there's one thing I know about Thor it's that he packs a punch, and I'm pretty sure he managed to survive that drop." Steve replied comfortingly.

"But you don't know for sure." she replied, pulling away slightly from Steve.

"You're right. I don't. But that won't stop me from believing, from hoping. It won't stop me from finding Loki and stopping him, and it won't stop me from believing in you." Steve said, his and Eir's face's just inches from each other.

"Look. You did what you could to save Coulson. He died trying to stop Loki. He died trying, and I don't think he would of wanted you or anyone else to give up and stop trying." he said, gazing into Eir's eyes.

There was a brief silence in the room.

"You're right. I won't stop trying. I will help defeat Loki, I will give up." she said, standing back up on her feet.

"Thank you. For not giving up on me." Eir said.

"No problem." Steve replied.

"And for rescuing me back there, from Loki." she added.

Eir smiled slightly at Steve, then proceeded to walk out of the room, leaving Steve all by himself. He was a little dazed at what had just occurred. He was so close to Eir, so intimate. Were these feelings real or was it just a crush?

When Eir walked out of the rec room she felt a little better, she now had the strength to walk with confidence down the halls. She was going to do whatever she could to help defeat Loki, and avenge Coulson. Eir walked into the command room and walked towards Nick Fury, who was conversing with the staff running around the room trying to get the systems back on line.

"Fury." Eir said, stopping a few feet from him.

Fury turned around to look at her, "Yes Eir?"

"I'd like to help in any way I can. I do not wish to stand around doing nothing as Loki continues to go through with his plans as we speak. Is there anything I can do now to help?" she asked.

"Well, unless you've become an expert in technology and can get our systems back on line any faster, I don't think we need you in this area. But agent Romanoff has contained agent Barton who was under Loki's mind control, and helping him recover in medical room five in the west hall. She could use your healing abilities to help him recover faster." Fury replied.

"I will do my best." Eir said, then turned to walk out of the room.

Eir walked through the halls and eventually found the recovery room where agent Barton and Natasha were. She entered the room to see agent Barton, or Hawkeye (his code name) as Tony had mentioned earlier, strapped down to a table. Natasha turned to look at Eir quickly, but relaxed when she learned it was Eir. Eir looked at Barton then back at Natasha, with an expression that said 'may I help?' Natasha nodded then stood to the side to observe Eir as she made her way over to agent Barton.

"How long has he been under the mind control?" Eir asked.

"Clint's been under the mind control for almost a week. Can you break the mind control?" Natasha asked.

"I'm not sure. I've never dealt with something like this before, but I'll try." Eir replied.

Eir placed her hands on both of Clint's temples and focused her energy on using her magic to find what was wrong. A small shock was sent through her mind, as she briefly sensed Loki's magic, causing her to pull away.

"Well?" Natasha asked, a hint of concern in her voice.

"I felt a prick of Loki's magic in his mind, but it's fading fast and all of it will be out of agent Barton's mind soon. Did you do anything in particular while capturing agent Barton? Anything that seemed to shake him out of the mind control?" Eir asked.

"I slammed his head against a metal railing post. Why?" Natasha replied.

"Oh, that's why." Eir said.

"Excuse me?" Natasha asked.

"Cognitive recalibration. Hitting the mind control victims in the head very hard must snap them out of it." Eir replied.

"You learn that on Asgard?" Natasha asked curiously.

"No. From Bruce. He mentioned it in one of our conversations we had. Seeing as we're both 'doctors' as your people put it, he decided to share some of his medical knowledge with me. Speaking of which, where is Bruce?" Eir said.

"Uh, he turned into the Hulk and destroyed some of the Hellicarrier, then fell to the ground after trying to take out a jet." Natasha said, not sugar-coating the truth at all.

"Is he alright! Or is he…" Eir asked, concern clearly in her voice.

"Well, we're sure he survived because the Hulk is kind of indestructible." Natasha replied.

"Oh good. Wait, Bruce turned into the Hulk, which is a giant green monster right? Will he change back?" Eir asked.

"Eventually. But our priority now is to find Loki and stop him, however we can." Natasha said.

"Yes, find Loki… Well agent Barton should snap out of the mind control soon, so I'll leave now. Be sure to contact me when he recovers so I can make sure he is fully well again." Eir said, walking over to the door.

"I will." Natasha said, "And you don't need him."

"Come again?" Eir asked, stopping in her tracks and looking back at her.

"You don't have to keep stressing over Loki. You can get over him, you're strong." Natasha said, an expression of empathy on her face.

Eir couldn't believe the words that just came out of Natasha's mouth. She didn't think she cared. She was always so cold and serious, supportive advice was the last thing she expected from her. Eir looked at her with a surprised face.

"The key is that the next time you see him, punch him in the face. It works every time." Natasha said, a slight grin creeping on her face.

Eir smiled back, "Thank you. For caring."

"Just don't tell anyone that I did okay?" Natasha asked.

Eir nodded, then left the room. About fifteen minutes later, Natasha called Eir into the room again. Eir was surprised to see Clint sitting next to Natasha on the gurney. Both Natasha and Clint looked at Eir as she stood there. Eir's eyes met with Clint's. His eyes no longer had the eerie blue glaze to them that was present before.

"Clint, this is Eir. She's an -" Natasha started but was cut off by Clint.

"An Asgardian. I know." Clint said.

"How would you know that?" Natasha asked.

"Loki." Clint replied.

Eir stared at Clint, eager to hear more.

"Yeah, he talks to himself a lot. He talked about you quite a bit." he said.

"What did he say?" Eir asked.

"Well, before he was captured by S.H.I.E.L.D. he would go on about how surprised he was that you were here, and how it would be you and him ruling the Earth and what not." Clint said in a cutting tone.

"I guess he's still not over you." Natasha said.

"Yeah, that's apparent. He tried to kidnap me. Eir said.

"Well then. I'm just going to wash up, so you two can have your girl-talk." Clint said sarcastically, standing up then walking into the washroom, leaving Eir and Natasha by themselves.

"So how do you do it?" Eir asked.

"Do what?" Natasha asked, surprised by Eir's question.

"Have a relationship with Clint." Eir replied.

"What? A relationship? Love isn't for me." Natasha replied.

"Uh huh… I see the way you look at Clint and the way he looks at you. You may not have declared it openly, but you are both in love with each other." Eir said, a slight smirk creeping onto her face.

"I am not discussing this." Natasha said bluntly.

"Very well." Eir said.

Eir heard someone enter the room. She turned to see Steve walk into the room.

"Time to go." Steve said, looking at Natasha and Eir.

"Go where?" Eir and Natasha said in unison.

"I'll tell you and the way. Can you fly one of those jets?" he asked Natasha.

"I can." Clint said, exiting from the washroom.

Steve looked at Natasha inquisitively and she nodded her head to confirm that Clint was on their side.

"You got a suit?" Steve asked him.

"Yeah." Clint replied, drying his hands with a cloth.

"Then suit up." Steve said.

Eir had a pretty good idea what Steve meant. They were going to stop Loki.

…

Eir, Steve, Natasha and Clint walked through the jet hangar to the jet they planned to commandeer. As they walked onto the jet they were stopped by a young pilot.

"You're not authorized to be in here." he said.

"Son, just don't." Steve said, a hint of irritation in his tone.

Eir had to admit Steve was pretty intimidating if you got on his bad side. The young pilot immediately stepped aside and let them board the jet.

Eir realized this was it. This would be the final confrontation. They were going to stop Loki, hopefully before his army came. If not, they were in for the fight of their lives.


	8. Burning skies

**Disclaimer: This chapter is rated T for action/violence and some language. I do not own anything of The Avengers, only my OC. I might switch between calling Captain America, Steve and Steve, Captain America. And I apologize if I tweak the storyline.**

Eir sat in one of the seats in the back of the jet. Her mind was racing, her thoughts picturing what the battle would be like. Would it be as simple as battling and recapturing Loki, or would they be too late and have to face an entire alien army? Both scenarios sent a jolt through her and made her heart beat faster.

"About three minutes until we reach Manhattan." Natasha said as she piloted the jet.

Eir tried to calm herself. Getting jitters before a fight wasn't going to help her or her teammates, whom she could not and would not let down. That was what really frightened her, losing another friend, failing others completely. Steve had been looking at Eir for some time now. He could see the worry in her eyes, that's how he could tell how she felt. Her eyes showed her emotions, even the ones she tried to hide. He couldn't take it anymore and walked over to Eir, sitting down in the seat next to her.

"You ready?" he asked.

"Hmm? Oh, yes. Definitely. Why wouldn't I be?" Eir said, stammering her words.

Steve just looked at her. The expression on his face Eir knew said, "really?"

Eir sighed.

"Fine. I'm nervous about the battle. I just don't want to let you all down." she said, "What if I can't fight well enough?"

"From what I've seen, you've got a pretty mean right hook." Steve replied.

His comment made Eir smile a little.

"Are you afraid of Loki?" Steve asked.

"No, I'm afraid of failing. I failed Coulson when I was too scared, too weak to overcome my feelings and attack Loki when he escaped his cell. If I had attacked him, Coulson would still be alive."

"I've never been one for this sort of advice but I understand that you and Loki had a thing before. But if Loki was too much of a selfish bastard that he couldn't see what an amazing woman he had to put his ambitions before you, then he needs to receive a sucker punch to the face!" Steve stood as he spoke, his voice filled with passion.

Eir looked at him with a surprised expression. She couldn't believe that he had just said that. She couldn't believe he felt that way about her.

Steve cleared his throat then sat back down.

"Excuse me, I'm sorry about that." he said apologetically.

"No, it was sweet. I think that's the nicest thing anyone has said to me." Eir said sweetly.

Steve was silent, but a slight smile appeared on his face at her words.

"We're entering the city." Natasha said.

Eir and Steve stood up and walked over to the cockpit. They all looked out the glass windows to see a blue bolt shoot into the sky from Stark Tower. Everyone's eyes grew wide with shock as a dark hole opened up in the sky. Hundreds of Chitauri warriors began flying through the portal and into the city.

"I guess it's fighting an army then." Eir said.

"Where's Stark?" Steve asked.

"Over Stark tower." Natasha replied.

"Where's Loki?" Eir asked.

"He's there too." Natasha replied, a hint of anger in her voice.

"Then what are we waiting for?" Clint replied as he placed more arrows into his quiver.

Natasha piloted the jet into the city, weaving through the buildings.

"Stark, we're heading north-east." Natasha said through the com-link system.

"What, did you stop for drive-thru? Swing that park, I'm gonna lay 'em out for you." Tony replied sarcastically.

Eir saw Tony fly past them in his Iron Man suit. Seconds after, a bunch of Chitauri on speeder followed. Natasha activated the weapons on the jet and began shooting them down. Eir struggled to maintain her balance as Natasha maneuvered the jet. The jet was shaken violently as a Chitauri speeder crashed into the wing of the jet. Natasha struggled to keep the jet upright as it began to crash to the ground. Eir lost her balance and was tossed to the other side of the jet. Instead of crashing into the hard wall, she was caught by Steve, who was holding onto a metal pole.

"Thanks." she said.

"Don't thank me yet." he replied.

"Brace for impact!" Natasha shouted.

Steve pulled Eir into his arms and protectively shielded her with his body as the jet hit the ground. The force of the impact shook everyone violently as the jet skidded across the street. When the jet came to a stop, Eir looked up at Steve.

"Now you can thank me." he said.

"Thank you." she replied as Steve released her from his embrace.

Eir immediately checked on Natasha and Clint. Clint had held onto a cord on the side of the jet and was fine, and Natasha had survived due to positioning the jet so it crashed on its side and not head on. Eir breathed in a sigh of relief as she realized they were okay.

"It's not over yet." Natasha said as she climbed out of the cockpit.

Eir nodded as Natasha hit the switch that opened the access hatch. The hatch slowly lowered to reveal the damaged buildings and rubble filled streets of Manhattan, courtesy of the Loki and the Chitauri. They exited the jet and their attention was immediately drawn to the portal in the sky as a leviathan-like creature came through it. Eir could not believe the immense size of this beast. It was larger than anything she had ever seen.

"Stark, are you seeing this?" Steve said through his earpiece.

"I'm seeing still working on believing. Where's Banner? Has he shown up yet?" Tony replied.

"Banner?" Steve asked, surprised by Tony's question.

"Just keep me posted." Tony replied.

"Alright, we need to take cover and plan this out." Steve said.

"I agree. Perhaps we can take cover behind that car?" Eir said as she pointed to a flipped car among many others.

Everyone agreed and dashed over to the car, taking cover behind it. Natasha, Steve and Clint took cover behind one car while Eir was behind another one near them. Eir noticed a group of Chitauri soldiers land near them and signaled to the others to look behind them. Steve quickly looked over the car then at Clint.

"Those people need help over there. I'm going in." Steve said.

"I'm going with you." Eir said, dashing over to Natasha, Steve and Clint.

"Hell you're not. You need to stay here with the others. That's an order." Steve said.

"I've never been very skilled at following orders." she replied smugly.

Steve sighed.

"You think that you can hold them off?" he asked Clint.

"Captain, it would be my genuine pleasure." Clint replied.

As Clint and Natasha began laying down cover fire, Steve and Eir made their way through the battlefield towards a group of cops to help them.

As the Chitauri continued to attack and destroy Manhattan, a group of cops struggled to defend the city, clearly out of their league.

"Does the army know what's happening here?" the police sergeant asked a young cop.

"Do we?" the young cop replied.

Suddenly, Captain America landed on a car next to them."I need men in these buildings. There are people inside that can run into the line of fire. You take them through the basement or through the subway, you keep them off the streets. I need a perimeter as far back as 39th." he said, directing them.

"Why the hell should I take orders from you?" the police sergeant asked.

Suddenly, more Chitauri flew by on their speeders, destroying more of the city. Two Chitauri appeared and attacked Captain America and the cops. The cops watched as Captain America defeated the Chitauri with ease.

Suddenly, another Chitauri appeared from behind a cop car and began shooting at Steve. He immediately put up his shield to deflect the blasts. Eir appeared from behind one of the cars and blasted the Chitauri soldier with a bolt of green magic from her fingertips, sending the Chitauri flying into a building, killing it. Steve looked at Eir, then gave her a 'thank you' nod. She replied with a 'don't mention it' smirk.

The police sergeant looked at them then turned to his fellow officers."I need men in those buildings, lead the people down and away from the streets." he said, repeating Steve's orders.

Natasha and Clint rejoined Steve and Eir. As they were preparing for another wave Thor landed beside them.

"Thor, you're alive!" Eir shouted as she rushed over to him, embracing him in a brief hug.

"It is good to see you as well." Thor replied as Eir broke away from the embrace.

"The power surrounding the cube is impenetrable." he said.

"Thor is right. We have to deal with these guys." Tony said through the com-link.

"How do we do this?" Natasha asked.

"As a team." Steve replied.

"I have unfinished business with Loki." Thor said.

"Yeah, get in line." Clint said as he screwed tips on his arrows.

"Save it. Loki's gonna keep this fight focused on us and that's what we need. Without him these things could run wild. We got Stark up top, he's gonna need us…" Steve said, then stopped as Bruce arrived on a beaten-up motorbike.

"Bruce you're back!" Eir said thankfully as she hugged him.

"So, this all seems horrible." Bruce said as Eir released him from her embrace.

"I've seen worse." Natasha replied, her tone containing a hint of anger.

"Sorry." Bruce replied.

"No, we could use a little worse." she replied.

"Stark, we got him, Banner, just like you said." Steve said through his earpiece.

"Tell him to suit up. I'm bringing the party to you." Tony replied through the com-link.

Everyone's eyes grew wide with shock as Tony flew towards them, with the giant leviathan-like creature behind him.

"I don't see how that's a party." Natasha said, her eyes locked onto the enormous beast.

"Even with my magic I couldn't take that creature down." Eir said as she watched the beast getting closer and closer.

"Dr. Banner, now might be a good time for you to get angry." Steve said.

"That's my secret, Captain. I'm always angry." Bruce replied, "Here's that demonstration you wanted Eir."

Bruce turned to face the leviathan then transformed into the Hulk and smashed it, his strength so powerful he stops the creature in its tracks. Eir was amazed, but her amazement quickly turned to alarm as the rest of the creature's body began to fall towards them.

Clint took cover behind a car, while Steve quickly covered Natasha and Eir with his shield as Tony blasted the leviathan to bits with his weapons. As they all stood up they looked at each other, glad to have destroyed the monster. Steve saw Eir standing frozen, looking up at the sky.

"What is it?" he asked.

Eir didn't speak. Instead she pointed to the portal. Everyone looked at the portal as hundreds more Chitauri and giant leviathan creatures came through.

"Guys." Natasha said.

"Call it, Captain." Tony said.

"Alright, listen up. Until we can close that portal up there, we're gonna use containment. Barton, I want you on that roof, eyes on everything. Call out patterns and strays. Stark, you got the perimeter. Anything gets more than three blocks out, you turn it back or your turn it to ash."Steve said.

"Wanna give me a lift?" Clint asked Tony.

"Right. Better clench up, Legolas." Tony said as he carried Clint off to a roof top.

"Thor, you've gotta try and bottleneck that portal, slow them down. You've got the lightning, light the bastards up." Steve said.

"You, Eir and I, we stay here on the ground, keep the fighting here. And Hulk, smash!" he said, pointing to Natasha and Eir then Hulk at the end of his statement.

Hulk smiled deviously, then ran off and started to take out multiple Chitauri. Soon everyone began fighting the Chitauri. Steve was taking out Chitauri soldiers with his shield, Natasha was shooting them with her duel pistols and Eir was blasting Chitauri, both ground soldiers and passing speeders with her magic. Eir watched as Natasha was on the shoulders of one Chitauri, fighting it. As she was busy electrocuting it with her stinger gloves, five other Chitauri snuck up on her, aiming their blasters at her.

Eir quickly ran over, placing herself in-between the attacking Chitauri and Natasha. Eir blasted away two with her magic then drew three throwing knives from the metal belt on her waist. She held them in her hands and focused her energy on them, filling them with magic, causing them to glow green. She threw them at the other three Chitauri. When the knives pierced their skin, the knives exploded, killing them instantly. Eir turned to Natasha, who had finished killing the Chitauri she had previously been on the shoulders of.

"Nice knives." Natasha complimented.

"Your gloves are impressive as well." Eir replied, returning the compliment.

Natasha nodded, then they both went their separate ways to continue the fight.

**…**

The battle was getting strenuous and tiring. Natasha had just finished taking out another Chitauri with its own weapon. She stood up and looked at the portal, which still had hundreds of Chitauri pouring out of it.

"Captain, none of this is gonna mean a damn thing if we don't close that portal." she said, breathing in deeply.

"Our biggest guns couldn't touch it." Steve said.

"Well, maybe it's not about guns." Natasha replied, as she eyed the Tesseract on Stark tower.

"You wanna get up there, you're gonna need a ride." Steve said, realizing what she was thinking.

"I got a ride. I could use a lift though." she said, taking a few steps back as multiple Chitauri speeders flew above.

Eir stood by watching, wondering if this was truly a good idea.

"Are you sure about this?" Steve asked, preparing to give her a boost.

"Yeah, it's gonna be fun." Natasha replied optimistically.

Natasha ran towards Steve and jumped onto his shield. Steve gave her a boost, launching her up into the air. She grabbed the end of one of the speeders and was carried off towards Stark tower. Steve looked at Eir, who was watching with intrigue.

"Don't look at me. I'm not going up there that way." she said, placing her hands up.

"Okay." Steve said.

"I'll just teleport myself." she added.

"What? Onto one of those speeders?" he asked, surprised by her response.

"Of course not, I can't teleport myself onto something that's moving at such a high speed. I'm going to teleport myself to Stark Tower." Eir replied, a bit of apprehension in her voice.

"What? But Loki's in there, you can't face him by yourself." Steve said in a slightly panicked tone.

"It's my decision. Someone needs to fight him, and I have the most personal business with him out of everyone here, besides Thor." Eir said solemnly.

"Then take me with you." Steve asked, stepping closer to her.

"You're needed here on the ground. The people of this city need you." she replied.

Steve sighed, "I can't convince you not to go can I?"

"I'm afraid not." Eir replied.

"Then let me give you one thing before you go." he said, walking closer to her.

"And what would that be?" she asked.

"This." Steve replied, then planted his lips on Eir's.

Eir's eyes grew wide with shock, then she gave in to the kiss. Steve was the first to pull away, then they both quickly composed themselves.

"Be careful." he said.

Eir nodded then disappeared in a flash of green light.

"Nice kiss Captain." Clint said over the com-link.

"Shut up." Steve said in an irritated tone.

Eir stood on a roof top across from Stark Tower. She was going in, but she had to do something else first. She looked around and saw the Hulk smashing Chitauri left and right on the building beside her. She backed up to the end of the rooftop, breathed in deeply, then took off running to the other side. With one great jump, she leapt over the alleyway below that divided the two buildings and landed safely on the other. Eir blasted away the last two Chitauri that Hulk was fighting and walked towards him. The Hulk looked at her to see if she was friend or foe.

"Relax, um, Hulk. It's just me." Eir said calmingly as she approached him.

Hulk relaxed a little and looked at her.

"I need a favor of you. Can you be at Stark tower in about seven minutes?" she asked.

"Hulk get to smash?" he asked.

"Yes." she replied.

The Hulk replied with a huge smirk.

"Thank you." Eir replied then teleported herself to Stark Tower.

Eir arrived in the entertainment room of Stark Tower. She walked down a small staircase and into the main part of the room. There was shattered glass covering the floor from the broken windows near the balcony. Eir stepped over the glass lightly and looked around continuously. She stopped by the windows and looked outside. The entire city was enveloped in the chaotic destruction of the Chitauri's attack. Eir heard the sound of a shoe crushing glass and whirled around, hands extended, ready to blast any enemy with magic. Loki was standing a few feet away from her.

"I see I've failed to get the drop on you." he said smugly.

Eir glared at him. Not a word leaving her lips.

"Please tell me you've come to your senses and are here to join me in ruling this world." Loki said.

"Sorry to disappoint you." Eir replied.

"Then why have you come here? To fight me?" he asked.

"That's the idea." she said.

Loki looked at her with a puzzled expression.

"Not the best idea if I do say so myself." Loki said, a smug smirk on his face.

Eir did not reply. She continued to aim her fingers at him, prepared to use her magic at any second.

"Are you absolutely sure you want to fight me?" he asked.

"Yes." she replied.

"Very well then." he replied.

Eir quickly ducked to avoid the blow from Loki she was anticipating would come. She saw Loki's arm above her head, a failed attempt to get her from behind. Eir turned around and grabbed his arm, twisting it behind his back. She took Loki by surprise as she held his arm painfully behind his back.

"I see you've learned a few tricks from those humans." he said.

"More than you know." she replied.

"If that's the game you want to play…" he started to say, then used his other arm to grab her and push her away.

As Eir regained her balance, Loki grabbed her from behind and locked his arms around her, causing Eir's hands to be pressed against her chest. She struggled to break free of Loki's grip.

"… then I'll play along." he said, finishing his previous statement.

Eir continued to struggle then remembered how Natasha fought her enemies. Eir whipped her head back, smacking Loki in the face, then while he was disoriented, she stomped her foot on Loki's foot. Loki released her from his grip and stepped back to recover. Loki felt his forehead with his left hand, when he looked back it had fresh blood on it. He looked at Eir balefully then charged her. Eir quickly drew her throwing knives and threw them at Loki. He dodged each knife that flew towards him, the knives exploding against the back wall.

Loki began advancing on Eir. Hoping to do better outside, Eir ran out onto the balcony. Once on the balcony, she looked around for Loki but he was nowhere in sight. Suddenly she felt a hand tightly grip the back of her neck. She used her peripheral vision to see Loki's serious and cold glare. Eir struggled to free herself. She tried to trip him using her leg but he avoided it.

"Nice try." he said.

Loki then tossed her to the ground a few feet away. She painfully rolled over pieces of broken building that had fallen and stopped against a small stone staircase. She struggled to get up due to the pain as Loki approached her, malice clear in his eyes.

"You fought well Eir. There's much more fight in you than the last time we met, but I have been victorious." he said.

"You know, my plan was never to beat you Loki. Just buy some time." Eir said, struggling to speak through the pain, "and, give you this!"

Eir suddenly stood up and nailed Loki with a fierce right hook, sending him reeling back. Loki staggered to his feet and glared balefully at Eir. As he was about to attack Eir, he heard an angry roar.

Loki's eyes grew wide with surprise as he turned around to see The Hulk leap towards him. The Hulk threw Loki through one of the unbroken glass windows and into the main room. Eir began healing herself as she heard Loki shout.

"Enough! You are all of you beneath me! I am a god, you dull creature, and I will not be bullied -" Loki began to say but was grabbed by Hulk and smashed around then left in a hole.

"Puny god." Hulk said as he walked away towards Eir.

Eir struggled to get onto her feet, she was pretty sure she had messed up her ankle pretty badly. The Hulk walked over to her and helped lift her onto her feet. She smiled at the Hulk as she regained the ability to walk.

"Thank you Bruce." she said.

He smiled back, then leapt out of the building to continue smashing Chitauri.

Eir limped over to Loki, who was smashed into a hole in the ground. She looked at him and smirked a little.

"You fought well, Loki. But _**I**_ have been victorious." Eir said with a grin.

Eir turned away from Loki and walked onto the balcony to see what was happening down there and if she could spot any of her teammates. As she looked, a group of Chitauri speeders flew by at shot at her. She was barely managing to dodge the blasts when she heard a cracking sound. She looked around but there was nothing, she then looked at her feet and saw that the ground she was standing on was crumbling. Eir had only enough time to gasp before the ledge gave way, sending her falling through the air.

Eir tried to focus on teleporting somewhere safe, but the fear and rush of falling made it too difficult to do so. All she could do was scream.

Eir's screams pierced the air and could even be heard throughout the battlefield. Steve looked up to see a person falling from Stark Tower. He soon knew it was Eir by her scream. He ran as fast as he could towards the tower, in a desperate dash to get to her.

Eir knew it would only be seconds before she hit the ground. Images of everyone she cared about flashed through her mind. Her parents, her new friends, and Steve. As she prepared for the impact that would end her life, she closed her eyes. Eir was shocked when she was stopped mid-air. She opened her eyes slowly and looked up to see the face of Tony's Iron Man suit. She had been caught by Tony bridal-style, how he managed that was a mystery to her.

"So, did the fall from heaven hurt or, no wait I caught you." he said snidely.

Eir knew there was a huge cheesy Tony Stark grin underneath the metal mask.

"Very funny Tony. So, no hard feelings about the uh, the right hook I gave you?" she asked.

"Nah, but I expected if I ever got punched it would have been by your new boyfriend, Spangles." Tony replied.

"You saw that?" she asked.

"Yep and I'm never gonna let him hear the end of it." he replied.

Tony lowered Eir to the ground, where Steve was waiting. Once Tony had set her down he took off again. Steve immediately rushed over to Eir.

"Are you alright?" he asked.

"I'm a little banged up but you should see Loki."

"Good. How did you manage to beat him?" Steve asked.

"Well, I just distracted him long enough for The Hulk to arrive and… well smash. And I also gave him that punch you recommended I should give him." she replied with a smirk.

Steve smiled a little.

"Well I'm just glad you're safe. I never thought I'd say this but, I'm going to have to thank Stark after this." he said.

"Likewise." Eir replied.

A few moments later Eir and Steve went back to fighting more Chitauri soldiers. Steve and Thor were fighting Chitauri back to back. Thor using his hammer and Steve his shield. Eir was positioned about ten yards away from them behind a partially destroyed car, blasting Chitauri away with bolts of magic and using her throwing knives if needed.

The battle began to escalate in difficulty. The Hulk was overwhelmed by a concentrated force of Chitauri fire, Tony was getting beaten around by Chitauri foot soldiers and Clint had just barely managed to survive being blasted off a rooftop after running out of arrows.

Steve, Thor and Eir were continuing to eliminate more Chitauri on the ground. Eir turned her head to check on how Thor and Steve were doing just in time to see Steve get hit in the side of his stomach by a Chitauri blast. She gasped and quickly ran over to him as fast as she could. Thor knocked away the remaining Chitauri with his hammer, then helped Steve to his feet.

"You ready for another bout?" Thor asked him.

"What, you gettin' sleepy?" Steve replied.

"Are you alright?" Eir asked, a tone of worry and panic in her voice.

"I'll be fine. I heal fast." he replied.

Eir ignored his stubbornness and quickly began healing him.

"I can close it! Can anybody hear me? I can shut the portal down!" Natasha said through everyone's com-link.

"Do it!" Steve replied.

"No, wait!" Tony said through the com-link.

"Stark, these things are still coming!" Steve shouted.

"I got a nuke coming in, it's gonna blow in less than a minute. And I know just where to put it." Tony replied.

"What is a nuke?" Eir asked.

"It's a nuclear bomb, and if it blows, all of Manhattan will be leveled." Steve replied.

"How is Tony going to stop it?" she asked.

"I'm going to put it in the portal." Tony replied.

"Stark, you know that's a one way trip?" Steve said solemnly.

Eir and everyone else watched as Tony flew with the missile into the portal. They all waited a couple of minutes, but he was nowhere in sight.

"Close it." Steve said through the com-link to Natasha.

Eir watched as the portal began to shrink smaller and smaller. She still couldn't find any sign of Tony. Right before the portal closed fully, she saw Tony's red and gold form fall through the portal. She breathed a sigh of relief until she realized that he wasn't slowing down.

"Son of a gun!" Steve replied in relief and surprise.

"He's not slowing down." Thor said, preparing to throw his hammer to launch himself to catch Tony.

Eir watched in horror as Tony's limp figure neared the ground. _Would no one catch him?_

Just as it seemed that Tony would fall to his death, all of a sudden, Hulk appeared and snagged him out of the air. Eir breathed a quick sigh of relief as Hulk placed Tony on the ground. Her relief was soon replaced by distress as she realized he wasn't moving. Thor quickly removed the face plate of armor and tossed it away to reveal Tony's unresponsive face. Eir quickly ushered everyone away from Tony as she hurried to try to revive him.

Eir tried to feel his pulse, he didn't have one. Eir quickly looked at his arc reactor heart, which faded color and powered down.

Eir couldn't lose another friend, not now.


	9. Closure

**Disclaimer: This chapter is rated T for language and action/violence. I do NOT own ANYTHING of the movie 'The Avengers.' This chapter is inspired by the song, 'Listen to your heart' by 'DHT.' Check it out, it's a good song.**

Eir desperately tried to keep calm as her heart beat accelerated faster and faster as she looked at the lifeless body of Tony in front of her. Eir couldn't let herself freak out like before, nor would she allow herself to fail again. Eir was determined not to lose another friend. She took a deep breath and tried to focus her energy and exploit it to save Tony. She owed him that much, even if he was a total jerk at times. Eir focused her healing energy into the palms of her hands, then placed them on Tony's neck. She looked around at her teammates, a plan developing in her mind.

"I'm transferring some of my healing magic into Tony to try to heal his wounds, but I'll need something to jumpstart his heart. Something to shock him awake." Eir said.

Suddenly, The Hulk let out a loud, bellowing roar. Eir looked at Tony to see him jolt awake in shock.

"What the hell?" Tony said in surprise, his breathing rapid and short.

Tears ran down Eir's eyes as her heart filled with joy that he wasn't dead.

"What just happened? Please tell me nobody kissed me?" Tony said.

Eir smiled, "You come back from the dead and your first words are filled with sarcasm."

"We won." Steve said, walking closer to Eir and Tony.

"Alright. Hey. Alright. Good job, guys. Let's just not come in tomorrow. Let's just take a day. Have you ever tried shawarma? There's a shawarma joint about two blocks from here. I don't know what it is, but I wanna try it." Tony said, lifting his arm weakly in a victory pump to the sky.

"We're not finished yet." Thor said seriously.

"And then shawarma after." Tony added.

"Yes. I would like to try this shawarma." Eir said.

"See, she wants to try it. Let's wrap Loki up, give him to S.H.I.E.L.D. then get shawarma. How's that sound?" Tony asked.

Everyone looked at each other complacently and shrugged their shoulders in agreement.

"So, let's head back to Stark tower and capture Loki." Clint said.

"Okay. Everyone link up and hold hands so I can teleport ourselves there and save us the walk." Eir said, extending her hands out for everyone to take.

"Yes. Good idea." Tony huffed as Thor helped pull him onto his feet.

Steve and Natasha each took one of Eir's hands, and everyone else linked together by holding each others. With a few words, Eir teleported everyone into Stark Tower. They easily found Loki, who was just climbing out of the hole in the ground. When he finally got himself upright, he found himself surrounded by Natasha, Tony, Steve, Clint, The Hulk, Thor and Eir, who were all aiming their weapons at him.

"If it's all the same to you, I'll have that drink now." Loki said composedly.

…

After Eir and the others had handed Loki off to S.H.I.E.L.D. to contain him, Eir and the others found the shawarma restaurant Tony had mentioned. As they sat down at their table, Tony went over to the register and ordered their food. Eir sat next to Steve, Thor sat next to Natasha, and Bruce, who had reverted back to his normal self, sat in-between Tony's seat and Clint.

"So what is this shawarma? Have you had it before?" Eir asked Steve curiously.

"I haven't, and I have absolutely no idea what it is." Steve replied.

"So after we eat, what shall we do with Loki?" Eir asked.

"We shall take him back to Asgard using the Tesseract, to face judgment." Thor replied.

"And you'll be going back to your home." Steve said solemnly, looking at Eir.

Eir was surprised at his remark. She had forgotten that she'd have to go back to Asgard.

"I had forgotten about that." Eir replied, averting her eyes from Steve.

"Food's up guys!" Tony said in his obnoxiously perky tone as he placed a large tray full of food on the table.

Everyone but Eir and Steve quickly grabbed their food and began to eat. They simply sat in silence.

"Hey. Why aren't you two touching your shawarma?" Tony said, his mouth full of food as he spoke.

"Oh yes, the food." Eir replied then grabbed her food and slowly ate it.

Steve however did not touch his food. Tony looked at him then went back to his own food.

…

After they were finished eating, S.H.I.E.L.D. sent a jet to take them back to base. After they arrived at base, Eir went to her room to prepare to leave. She shut the door and sat on her bed, thinking. Thinking about everything that had occurred while she had been on Earth and what she should do now. Should she go back to Asgard with Thor? She couldn't just abandon her mother and her friends on Asgard. But she couldn't leave Steve forever either. What was she to do?

Suddenly, Eir heard a knock on the door.

"Come in." she said.

The door opened to have Maria come into the room. She looked at Eir and immediately sat down next to her.

"Tell me what's wrong?" she asked her.

"Thor and I are going to take Loki back to Asgard soon. But I'm not sure that I want to leave." Eir replied.

"Ah yes, it's because of Steve isn't it?" Maria asked.

"And you, and everyone I've met here. I've grown rather fond of 'The Avengers.' Even Tony." Eir said.

"Well that's a surprise, liking Tony I mean. So why can't you stay here?" Maria inquired.

"Because, I have friends and my mother back on Asgard. It is my home, I can't just abandon it and everyone there." Eir replied solemnly.

"That's very honorable and noble of you, not abandoning your home and family, but you are a grown woman. You have the power to choose where you want your life to go." Maria said.

"Yes, but my world needs me. I have a responsibility to my people. But should I stay here on Earth just because of my emotions? Should I let my emotions control my decisions?" Eir asked, looking at Maria.

"Yes and no. You need to listen to your heart. If you truly listen to what it says, you can never make the wrong decision." Maria said, "If only there was a way that you could choose both."

Eir's eyes lit up, an idea popping into her mind.

"Perhaps there is a way that I can choose both Earth and Asgard." Eir said, the energy returning to her voice.

"What do you mean?" Maria asked.

"I teleported myself here using my magic. I'm sure I can teleport myself back to Asgard as well." Eir replied joyously.

"Meaning?" Maria asked curiously.

"Meaning, I can travel to Earth and back whenever I wish. I can stay here for sometime, then return to Asgard for a time. I believe that's what your planet's people would call, 'the best of both worlds.'" Eir said.

"This is wonderful! You need to tell Steve right away." Maria replied, joy in her voice.

"Why is that?" Eir asked, confused by Maria's statement.

"I saw him earlier and he looks pretty depressed. More so than usual, I think it's about you leaving." Maria said.

"You're right, I'll tell him." Eir replied, then exited the room.

Eir walked through the hallways of the hovercraft. The hallways were filled with S.H.I.E.L.D. personnel and staff moving damaged items and making repairs on the ship. Eir finally found Steve in the rec room in his normal spot sitting in one of the chairs around the table. Eir walked over to Steve and sat down next to him. Steve reacted as if Eir wasn't there.

"Steve. Steve." Eir said, moving his shoulder, trying to snap him out of his daze.

"You come to say goodbye before you leave?" he asked solemnly.

"No." Eir replied.

Steve was slightly surprised by her answer and he turned to look at her.

"I've come to tell you that I've figured a way I can return to my home and we can stay together at the same time." she said, a cheery tone in her voice.

"And how's that?" Steve asked her.

"When I first came here to Earth, I teleported myself. I can teleport myself back to Asgard as well." Eir replied.

"Really?!" he asked, curiosity and disbelief in his voice.

"So, I can return to my home and continue to live my life there, then when I have time to myself, I can teleport myself back here and be with you and the others." Eir said.

"So we can stay…" Steve started to say.

"Together, yes." Eir said, finishing his sentence.

"That's wonderful Eir!" Steve said, standing up and out of his chair.

"Yes it is." Eir said, standing up with him and wrapping her arms around his shoulders.

She then leaned in and kissed Steve, who kissed back passionately.

…

After telling Steve the news, Eir returned to her room and changed into her more casual Asgardian dress. After she was changed she walked to the room where S.H.I.E.L.D. was holding Loki. Thor accompanied her to the holding room, but stayed outside the room that Loki was being held in, so Eir could have her privacy.

"If he tries anything, just call for me, understood?" Thor said.

"Understood." Eir replied.

Eir was going to have closure before they went back to Asgard. She walked to the cell that held Loki inside. His arms were bound behind his back with powerful metal restraints as he sat on a bench inside the cell.

"And what do I, a lowly prisoner, owe the honor of being visited by you? Am I to be interrogated?" Loki said sardonically.

"No. You're going to be taken back to Asgard for judgment." Eir replied.

Loki's eyes seemed to fill with fear or dread, Eir couldn't tell and she didn't care.

"Steve and I are together." Eir said.

"What?" Loki asked.

"I said.." Eir started.

"I heard you. So that's why. It's him that drove you away from me, isn't it?!" Loki said angrily.

"No Loki. You did that all by yourself." Eir replied solemnly.

"You'd choose to be with that pathetic mortal over me?" Loki asked, rage still boiling inside of him.

"You chose your path and I chose not to follow. It's that simple." Eir replied.

"And I suppose you came here for retribution? To inflict your stinging words upon me?" Loki asked.

"For closure." she replied.

Eir turned her back to Loki and walked out of the room, leaving Loki by himself. When she exited the holding room, she rejoined Thor, who was waiting for her.

"Did everything go as planned?" Thor asked her.

"Yes. It did." she replied.

…

After another hour had passed, Eir and the others took Loki to Central Park in New York. Thor took Loki, who had a restraint over his mouth, to the center of the park with Eir accompanying them. Steve, Clint, Bruce, Natasha, and Tony all stood around the area where Thor, Loki and Eir were to leave. As Thor and Loki took their positions, Eir was saying her goodbyes to her friends.

"Goodbye my friend. I hope to see you again soon." she said as she hugged Bruce.

"See you around Eir. Next time you come around here I'll teach you a bit more on the different medical procedures and medicines we have here." Bruce said, a kind smile on his face.

"I look forward to it." Eir replied.

"Uh, stay safe, take care Eir." Natasha said awkwardly.

Eir looked at Natasha, then embraced her in a hug. Natasha's eyes went wide in surprise. Eir broke the hug and smiled at Natasha.

"Don't worry, you're secret's safe with me." Eir said with a smile and a wink of the eye.

"Keep up the good work Eir." Clint said.

"Likewise." she replied.

Eir stopped in front of Tony and looked at him.

"What? No kiss goodbye Sabrina?" he said obnoxiously.

"Goodbye to you too, Tony." she said, then walked over to Steve.

She gave Steve a quick peck on the lips then walked over to Thor smiling.

"Of course, you give your boyfriend 'spangles' a kiss goodbye." Tony scoffed, pretending to be offended.

Eir joined Thor as he handed Loki the other end of the Tesseract. She took one last look around at her surroundings and friends then turned to Loki, who was glaring balefully at her. She ignored him and looked at Thor. He extended his hand to Eir and she took it.

Thor turned the dial on the container that held the Tesseract, and in a flash of blue light Thor, Loki and Eir disappeared. Throughout the trip to Asgard, Eir was content. This wasn't the end of her journey.

It was the beginning.

**Hope you all enjoyed the finally! Yes, I'm ending the story here, but who knows, there may be a sequel…**


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